Faculty | Division of Geriatric Medicine

Division of Geriatric Medicine
Ralston-Penn Center
3615 Chestnut Street
Perelman School of Medicine
424B Stemmler Hall
36th Street and Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Office: 215-662-2746
Fax: 215-573-8684
Lab: 215-746-8138

Email:
pignolo@mail.med.upenn.edu

Education:
B.A. (Biochemistry)
University of Pennsylvania , 1985.
PhD (Molecular Biology)
University of Pennsylvania , 1993.
MD (Medicine)
Medical College of Pennsylvania (MCP) and Hahnemann University (HU), 1998.

Links
Perelman School of Medicine Faculty web page
Primary Work Website
Ralston-Penn Clinic for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders
Vibe Pharmaceuticals (UPStart)

Post-Graduate Training
Post-doctoral Fellow, Center for Gerontological Research, Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1993-1996.
Intern in Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University , 1998-1999.
Resident in Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University , 1999-2001.
Fellowship, Geriatric Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 2001-2003.
Post-doctoral Fellow, McKay Laboratory of Orthopaedic Surgery Research, University of Pennsylvania, 2001-2003.

Certifications
Board Certification, Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, 2001.
Certification of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine, 2002.

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

Bone biology; Osteoblast differentiation; Cell aging; Senescence; Osteoporosis; Heterotopic ossification; Stem cell biology; Aging; Mesenchymal stem cells

Description of Clinical Expertise

Osteoporosis; Bone disorders; Geriatrics

Selected Publications

Egan, K.P., Kim, J-H., Mohler, E.R. III, Pignolo, R.J. : Role for Circulating Osteogenic Precursor Cells in Aortic Valvular Disease. Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 31: 2965-2971, 2011.

Kan, L., Lounev, V.Y., Pignolo, R.J., Duan, L., Liu, Y., Stock, S.R., McGuire., T.L., Lu, B., Gerard, N.P., Shore, E.M., Kaplan, F.S., Kessler, J.A. : Substance P Signaling Mediates BMP Dependent Heterotopic Ossification Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 112: 2759–2772, 2011.

Pignolo, R.J., Xu, M., Russell, E., Richardson, A., Kaplan, J., Billings, P.C., Kaplan, F.S., Shore, E.M.: Heterozygous inactivation of Gnas confers enhanced osteoblast differentiation and formation of heterotopic ossification. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 26: 2647-2655, 2011.

Suda, R.K., Billings, P.C., Egan, K.P., Kim, J-H., McCarrick-Walmsley, R., Glaser, D.L., Porter, D.L., Shore, E.M., and Pignolo, R.J.: Circulating Osteogenic Precursor Cells in Heterotopic Bone Formation. Stem Cells 27: 2209-2219, 2009.

Pignolo, R.J., Suda, R.K., McMillan, E.A., Shen, J., Lee, S-H, Choi, Y., Wright, A.C., and Johnson, F.B. : Defects in Telomere Maintenance Molecules Impair Osteoblast Differentiation and Promote Osteoporosis. Aging Cell 7: 23-31, 2008.

Adegbite, N.S., Xu, M., Kaplan, F.S., Shore1, E.M., and Pignolo, R.J. : Diagnostic and Mutational Spectrum of Progressive Osseous Heteroplasia (POH) and Other GNAS-based Disorders of Heterotopic Ossification. American Journal of Medical Genetics 146A: 1788-1796, 2008.

Kaplan, F.S., Glaser, D.L., Shore, E.M., Pignolo, R.J., Xu, M., Zhang, Y., Senitzer, D., Forman, S.J., and Emerson, S.: Hematopoietic stem cell contribution to ectopic skeletogenesis. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Am.) 89: 347-357, 2007.

Lee, S-H, Rho, J., Jeong, D., Sul, J-Y, Kim, T., Kim, N., Kang, J-S, Miyamoto, T, Suda, T., Lee, S-K, Pignolo, R.J., Koczon-Jaremko, B., Lorenzo, J., and Choi Y.: v-ATPase V0 subunit d2-deficient mice exhibit impaired osteoclast fusion and increased bone formation. Nature Medicine 12: 1403-1409, 2007.

Kaplan, F.S., Shore, E.M., Rishi, G., Billings, P.C., Glaser, D.L., Pignolo, R.J., Graf, D., and Kamoun, M.: Immunological features of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva and the dysregulated BMP4 pathway. Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism 3: 189-194, 2005 Notes: First description of immunological features of FOP.

Du, X., Shen, J., Kugan, N., Furth, E.E., Lombard, D.B., Cheung, C., Pak, S., Luo, G., Pignolo, R.J., DePinho, R.A., Guarente, L., and Johnson, F.B.: Telomere shortening exposes functions for the mouse Werner and Bloom syndrome genes. Molecular & Cellular Biology 24(19): 8437-46, 2004.