Welcome to McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory
The McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory is looking to hire an Assistant Professor on the Tenure Track! For more information please visit click the link.
https://www.med.upenn.edu/orl/join-us-position.html
A program in orthopaedic research at the University of Pennsylvania was established in 1960, and in 1979 the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory officially opened, establishing all of the orthopaedic research laboratories in the same physical location. Currently, the McKay Lab is a thriving, multidisciplinary facility that occupies more than 22,000 square feet of space in Stemmler Hall in the Perelman School of Medicine. Our multi-faceted research programs involve the participation of more than 120 research personnel from 17 distinct laboratories. Research expenditures in McKay total more than $15,000,000 per annum, supported largely through extramural funding including grants from the National Institutes of Health, Veteran's Administration, other governmental agencies, private foundations, and industry. We are consistently ranked in the top 5 among Orthopaedic Departments nationally in terms of NIH funding. Our overall mission is to conduct high quality fundamental and translational research and to train the next generation of leaders in our field. Moreover, the McKay Lab serves as the focal point for the NIH-supported Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders, a university-wide Center that provides resources and a forum for scientific exchange through annual symposia, a year-long seminar series, a pilot grant program and other activities.
McKay Laboratory News
Dr. Hunter Levis Receives VA T-TERM Fellowship
August 31, 2026
Congratulations to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Hunter Levis for earning a two-year Fellowship Training in Translational Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (T-TERM). The fellowship is awarded by the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs CReATE Motion Research Center, and his proposal aims to develop a localized drug delivery platform for repairing the annulus fibrosus after disc injury. The core innovation is a tunable NorHA-ST hydrogel that independently controls mechanical stiffness and drug release, now being adapted to deliver biotinylated mRNA-LNPs so nucleic acid therapies like anti-inflammatory mRNA can be sustained and localized at the injury site.
Gullbrand Laboratory
Dr. Hunter Levis Receives NIH T32 Training Grant
August 24, 2026
Congratulations to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Hunter Levis for receiving a T32 grant from the National Institutes of Health's Training Program in Rheumatic Diseases. This award will investigate how loss of tension and initiation of inflammatory signaling cascades affect the annulus fibrosus following injury, probing how the interaction of mechanical and inflammatory cues block natural repair processes. Furthermore, the project with investigate how anti-inflammatory molecules may be used to restore annulus fibrosus homeostasis following these events.
Gullbrand Laboratory
Thank you to our summer students Alex Baranyai, Lindsay Bomba, Luv Kataria, and Lindsey Sydnor
August 20, 2026
The biggest thanks to the four wonderful students who joined us for the summer this year! We wish Lindsay Bomba, our 2026 American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners Fellow, and Luv Kataria, our 2026 Association of Academic Physiatrists Rehabilitation Research Experience Fellow, good luck as they return to veterinary and medical school this fall. We are so grateful you wanted to work with us this summer and are so proud of all the work you've accomplished in such a short period of time! We'd also like to thank medical student Lindsey Sydnor, who completed her first summer with us, and undergraduate researcher Alex Baranyai, who completed her second summer in the lab as part of UPenn's University Scholars Research Training Grant, for their outstanding contributions to our research! The commitment all four of you have shown to ensure everything you do is done well can not be understated, and we can't wait to see what you do next.
Gullbrand Laboratory