COST netwOArk kick-off

A new group to fight osteoarthritis in Europe is born ! Happy to be on board and to represent Belgium.

Our COST Association - European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action "CA21110 - Building an open European Network on OsteoArthritis research - netwOArk" formally kicked off today

The main aim of the EU COST Action netwOArk is to set up the European Society for Osteoarthritis (ESOA), with three major stakeholder groups, 1) patients, 2) clinicians and 3) researchers, both from academia and industry. We need a European Society to begin the process of engagement at the European level with the relevant stakeholders across Europe, with the aim of coordinating and stimulating more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, technological development and translation of the results to the clinic, aimed at improving the quality of life of those affected by OA in Europe.

First mSKIL webinar!

The mSKIL is organizing a webinar entitled "Role of mitochondria in Osteoarthritis" on Thursday 11th March 2021 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

It will be presented by Prof. F.J. Blanco (University Hospital A Coruna, Spain).

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Prof. Blanco is Rheumatologist at the University Hospital A Coruna (Spain), Scientific Director of the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruna (INIBIC) and full Professor in the area of Medicine at the University of A Coruna (UDC). He studied Medicine at the USC and completed the Rheumatology speciality at the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid (1989-92). He was a Research Fellow at UCSD-La Jolla-California and achieved a PhD from the Universidad de A Coruna (UDC) in 1998. Currently he leads the Rheumatology Research Group (GIR).

Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU) changes its name!

The Bone and Cartilage Research Unit becomes musculoSKeletal Innovative research Lab (mSKIL), a name that better matches his skills and research strategies. This university laboratory is specialized in diseases affecting the musculoskeletal system, mostly in the understanding of their physiopathology and the identification of new soluble biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This lab also develops innovative in vitro and in vivo models for the screening and the study of the mechanisms of action of new treatment. While BCRU was focused on osteoarthritis, now mSKIL enlarges its skills to sarcopenia and intervertebral disc degeneration.

Four BCRU's scientists awarded!

A great achievement for them...

Jérémie Zappia, Cécile Lambert, Christelle Sanchez and Yves Henrotin, scientists at the Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU) in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Liège, are the winners of four scientific prizes awarded to them at the end of 2019. These prizes recognize the quality of the research carried out by these scientists in the field of osteoarthritis.

2019 was a good year for researchers from the Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU), headed by Professor Yves Henrotin. Indeed, three researchers have been awarded four important scientific prizes. BCRU, now renamed mSKIL, a member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM) is a unit specialized in research on bone, cartilage and muscle. Researchers are developing biological markers and treatments for osteoarthritis and sarcopenia (weakening of the body due to the decrease in muscle mass and quality as we age). The research unit has more than 250 scientific articles published in national and international journals and filed 15 patents behind two spin-offs: Artialis SA and Kiomed Pharma.

In September 2019, Cécile Lambert received two awards for her work on the pro-inflammatory effect of a collagen peptide type (Coll2-1) on the synovial membrane. On September 15, 2019 she received the Tilman Prize from the Arthrose Foundation on the occasion of the gala evening organized in Brussels by the Fondation Arthrose and, on December 9, 2019, the Arthrose Research Prize from Laboratoires Expanscience on the occasion of the 32nd congress of the French Rheumatology Society in Paris. This is the third time that a mSKIL researcher has received this award.

In October 2019, Professor Yves Henrotin received the Certificate of Merit award, awarded by the International Repair Society International (ICRS) at its 15th world congress in Vancouver. The award recognizes his work in collaboration with Christelle Sanchez on syndecan-4, a membrane proteoglycan and potential marker for osteoarthritis of the knee.

In November 2019, on the occasion of the Léon Frédéric Foundation projects evening, Jérémie Zappia, doctoral student in the lab, was awarded the Jean Henrotin Prize from the Fondation Arthrose for his research work on osteomodulin, which is a small proteoglycan involved in sclerosis of the subchondral bone during osteoarthritis.

BCRU team at WODIES gala dinner 2019

#fondationarthrose World Osteoarthritis Day Intergenerational Events with Cécile Lambert Jérémie Zappia Christelle Sanchez, Antoine Florin and Jean-Emile Dubuc - Congratulations to Cécile for her Tilman 's research 2019 prize !