Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability in developed countries.  The World Health Organization estimates that 10% of men and 18% of women over age 60 suffer from this disease.  Presently we have no drugs that stop or even slow its progression.  

The Osteoarthritis Therapeutics Conference will focus on drug discovery for Osteoarthritis (OA).  This objective is responsive to a major societal need given the rapidly increasing impact of OA around the world and the present lack of effective medications to halt progression of this disease. 

In the Osteoarthritis Therapeutics Conference we will focus on a model of OA in which metabolic and oxidative stress is an early event that damages the articular cartilage matrix - rendering it vulnerable to subsequent mechanical stress.   Under these conditions, even the relatively physiological stresses of daily life can lead to degeneration of weakened cartilage and subsequent development of OA, a disease that affects all of the tissues of the joint.  

The metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cigarette smoking, joint trauma, and inflammatory diseases of joints represents conditions in which oxidative modifications of cartilage matrix proteins have been shown to occur. In this conference we will focus on basic oxidative injury mechanisms, the resulting alterations in protein structure and function, the biological mechanisms that protect against oxidative injury, the clinical consequences of oxidative modifications of cartilage matrix proteins, and potential strategies for intervening in these harmful processes through pharmacological means.

Most drug trials of compounds of potential benefit for individuals with OA have been tested in patients in whom collapse of the structural elements of the involved joints has already occurred.  The question will be addressed as to the possibility of designing trials that might intervene in the OA process at early stages of damage to the cartilage matrix.

The conference will bring together basic and translational scientists and drug discovery experts in an effort to explore new approaches to drug discovery in OA.  The goal is to facilitate a dialogue that will reenergize drug discovery in OA.

Key Sessions

1. The societal impact of OA
2. An overview of protein oxidative damage
3. Advanced glycation end-products
4. New insights into the role of inflammation in OA
5. Autophagy and Proteostasis
6. Assessment of oxidative injury in the clinical setting
7. Therapeutic strategies to ameliorate metabolic and oxidative injury
8. Regulatory considerations
9. Mobilizing society to address chronic diseases 

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Professor Martin Lotz (The Scripps Research Institute)
CELLULAR HOMEOSTASIS MECHANISMS AND PROTEIN AGGREGATION IN JOINT AGING AND OSTEOARTHRITIS

Professor Ali Mobasheri (The University of Surrey)
BIOMARKERS AS TOOLS FOR FACILITATING DRUG DISCOVERY FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS AND SURROGATE ENDPOINTS IN CLINICAL TRIALS

Dr. Gloria Matthews (Genzyme Corporation)

Dr. Rodney Levine (NIH)
OXIDATIVE MODIFICATION OF PROTEINS IN DISEASE AND AGING

Professor Jennifer Elisseeff (Johns Hopkins)
NEW STRATEGIES TO TARGET OA: REDUCING INFLAMMATION AND REBUILDING CARTILAGE.

Professor György Dormán (Szeged University)
HITTING THE RIGHT TARGET IN OESTEOARTHRITIS: ATTEMPTS TO SELECTIVELY INHIBITING MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES

Dr. George R Dodge (Penn Medicine)
PLATFORMS TO STUDY MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN TRAUMATIC CARTILAGE INJURIES AND DISCOVERY OF POTENTIAL THERAPEUTICS FOR PTOA

Professor Francis Berenbaum (Pierre & Marie Curie University-INSERM)
OSTEOARTHRITIS: THE BRAIN-JOINT AXIS

Professor Sharmila Majumdar (UCSF)
QUANTITATIVE IMAGING BIOMARKERS IN UNDERSTANDING CARTILAGE, BONE AND MENISCUS DEGENERATION IN OSTEOARTHRITIS 

Professor Stefan Lohmander (Lunds University)
HUMAN JOINT INJURY: A MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF OA THERAPY?

Prof. Dr. Christian Lattermann (University of Kentucky)
BIOMARKER CHANGES BEFORE AND AFTER ACL INJURY. A CLINICAL APPROACH TO DECIPHER TIMING OF PTOA ONSET AND TREATMENT 

Dr Ailis Tweed-Kent (Cocoon Biotech Inc)

Professor Alexandrina F Mendes (University of Coimbra)
DIABETES MELLITUS AS A RISK FACTOR FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS: MODULATION OF CHONDROCYTE FUNCTIONS BY HIGH GLUCOSE

Professor Di Chen (Rush University)
THE ROLE OF CARTILAGE Β-CATENIN SIGNALING IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF SPONDYLOARTHRITIS

Dr. Simon Blake (Janssen Research and Development)
THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF ADIPOKINES IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF OA

Dr. C. Kent Kwoh (The University of Arizona)