C-COMP News

COMPositions: Better Red Than Dead

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:02:00 +0000

Thanksgiving Day, November 1936. As was her custom, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States of America, had conjured up a sumptuous feast at her house in the New York suburb of Hyde Park. The traditional Thanksgiving turkey was surrounded by all sorts of delicious holiday treats. The table looked glorious. However, just that morning a serious problem had arisen. A phone call from Boston had informed Mrs. Roosevelt that her son, Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) Jr, had been taken to hospital. The problem had apparently started with a sinus infection. But then things started to go rapidly downhill.

Human Tissues and Organs for Research Resource Pilot Award Winner - Dr. Frank Ko

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 22:47:00 +0000

The Pilot Award Program is a new component of the NDRI's NIH-supported U42 program the Human Tissues and Organs for Research Resource (HTORR).

Seminar Talk | Dr. Tom Appleton from Western University - June 10, 2026

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 22:43:00 +0000

Join us for our next C-COMP seminar

MACS® Imaging Grant 2025 Winner

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:42:00 +0000

The C-COMP team was awarded an imaging grant this year by Miltenyi.

New Publication | Featured in Journal of Visualized Experiments - 2025

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 20:34:00 +0000

The video protocol describes how to measure knee hyperalgesia in mice. We show examples in mouse models of acute knee pain as well as in models of osteoarthritis (OA).

New Publication | Featured in Journal of Orthopaedic Research - September 2025

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:29:00 +0000

Collectively, these findings highlight the therapeutic potential of microbiota-targeted strategies as nonpharmacological interventions for improving functional recovery and reducing pain behavior following traumatic bone injury.

The Reign of Pain

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 13:19:00 +0000

Pain is always something to be overcome. There are many contexts for this. For the Amazonian Indians it may represent a passage to manhood. For a patient in hospital, it may be part of the pathway to recovery. Overcoming pain may even be recreational. Chili peppers are spicy but in excess may be really painful. The eating of such peppers can take on a competitive edge. Who can eat the hottest one? In the case of the Bullet Ant, we may wonder where exactly the pain comes from? The jaws of the ant, though fearsome to look at, are surely not sufficient to produce such an excruciating and lingering experience. Indeed, the jaws are not the point. It is the stinger at the other end of the ant that is the key. This contraption is capable of injecting the venom of the ant into its victim. But here again we might wonder exactly how large a volume of its venom a single ant might inject? Surely this is a tiny amount? How could so small a quantity be responsible for such a devastating result?

New Publication | Featured in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism - June 2025

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 19:06:00 +0000

Our laboratory has studied mechanisms of OA pain using experimental models. Here, we briefly summarize five lessons learnt from these studies as well as from studies in subjects with OA, and how these findings might be applied to mechanistic studies in other painful RMDs.

2025 RFA for Pilot Grants Released

Sun, 25 May 2025 17:45:00 +0000

The 2025 Pilot Grant Call is now open. The deadline to apply is June 23, 2025.

Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger

Sun, 04 May 2025 20:04:00 +0000

"As a US citizen, I believe it’s my duty to advocate for investment in science, which has long been one of the keys to of our national success," writes Dr. Ardem Patapoutian.

New Publication | Featured in Science Advances - Journal Club on May 12

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 21:14:00 +0000

Obesity is a risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), and leptin is among the adipokines implicated in obesity-induced OA. However, the specific role of leptin in OA severity and pain is not known. Using lipodystrophic (LD) mice, we show that fat-secreted factors are required for knee OA development, implicating a fat-cartilage cross-talk.

Seminar Talk | Dr. Yvonne Lee from Northwestern University - April 7, 2025

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 21:31:00 +0000

Join us for our next C-COMP seminar

BORS-BJR fellows visit C-COMP

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 00:27:00 +0000

Five orthopaedic researchers selected by the British Orthopaedic Research Society (BORS) and Bone & Joint Research (BJR) visit C-COMP as part of the 2025 fellowship program.

Seminar Talk | Dr. Zsuzsa Jenei-Lanzl from Goethe University - February 24, 2025

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:51:00 +0000

Join us for the next C-COMP seminar, "The vicious circle of chronic stress, inflammation and pain in osteoarthritis"

C-COMP Journal Club Presents Dr. Henning Bliddal from Copenhagen University - January 13, 2025

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:37:00 +0000

Featured in New England Journal of Medicine: "Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Persons with Obesity and Knee Osteoarthritis".

New Publication | Featured in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research - November 15, 2024

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 16:33:00 +0000

A major barrier that hampers our understanding of the precise anatomic distribution of pain sensing nerves in and around the joint is the limited view obtained from traditional two dimensional (D) histological approaches. Therefore, our objective was to develop a workflow that allows examination of the innervation of the intact mouse knee joint in 3D by employing clearing-enabled light sheet microscopy.

New Publication | Featured in Frontiers - July 14, 2024

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:24:00 +0000

Knee joints are densely innervated by nociceptors. In human knees and rodent models, sprouting of nociceptors has been reported in late-stage osteoarthritis (OA). Here, we sought to describe progressive nociceptor remodeling in early and late-stage OA, using four distinct experimental mouse models.

Seminar Talk | Dr. David Hunter from the University of Sydney - November 14, 2024

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 21:27:00 +0000

C-COMP Seminar: “Assessment of pain in knee osteoarthritis”

COMPositions Guest Post - Tulsa Johnson

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 23:33:00 +0000

Female Hysteria and Healthcare: How Does the History of Female Hysteria Affect Women’s Healthcare Today? When I was in high school, I read a short story by Charlotte Perkins Stetson called “The Yellow Wallpaper”. In reading this story I felt camaraderie with the main character’s experiences.

Seminar Talk | Dr. Richard Miller from Northwestern University - October 21, 2024

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 22:24:00 +0000

Join us for our upcoming C-COMP seminar featuring Dr. Richard J. Miller on October 21, 2024, at 3:00 pm CST!