Congratulations to Sage Frehner and Matthew Fainor on Tissue Engineering Publication
September 09, 2025
Congratulations to co-first authors Sage Frehner and Matthew Fainor as well as their coauthors for the newly published paper "A Human Progenitor Cell-Based Tissue Engineered Disc" published in Tissue Engineering Part A today! This publication is the first from our ongoing collaboration with DiscGenics, assessing the feasibility of implementing DiscGenics' proprietary Discogenic Cells in our tissue-engineered endplate-modified disc-like angle ply structures (eDAPS).
Thank You to Our Summer Students, Lauren Maghak and Alex Baranyai
August 26, 2025
As the summer once again draws to a close, we'd like to thank our exceptional summer students! A big thank you to Lauren Maghak and good luck on her return to veterinary school after a summer spent working in our lab through the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine Boehringer-Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program. We'd also like to extend an extraordinary thank you to Alex Baranyai, our incredible undergraduate student who will continue in the lab as she returns to classes this fall.
Gullbrand Lab Presents at ORS 2025
February 11, 2025
Congratulations to all members of the Gullbrand Lab and our collaborators on their presentations at the Orthopaedic Research Society's 2025 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona! During the spine section meeting, Brianna Orozco and Emily Sharp were presented awards to support their travel to, collaboration with, and mentorship from experts in the field. While Brianna, Emily, and Matthew presented much of our lab's work during the poster sessions, our collaborators took to the stage during three of the conference's podium sessions. Hunter Levis and Estaban Ongini presented our two most recently published works, the first in collaboration with the Bowles Lab exploring the use of CRISPR-edited human mesenchymal stromal cells for large-scale disc tissue engineering, and the second in collaboration with the Snedeker Lab and ZuriMED Technologies characterizing how their fiberlocking device performs during annulus fibrosus repair in a large animal model. Finally, Dr. Kevin Burt presented work using imaging mass cytometry to determine how the cellular landscape of the intervertebral disc changes in response to injury. You can find the details about all these projects on the ORS website, and we look forward to connecting with everyone in the field again soon!
Congratulations to Esteban D. Ongini and Coauthors on JOR Spine Publication
February 06, 2025
Congratulations to Esteban D. Ongini and coauthors on their JOR Spine publication entitled "Annulus Fibrosus Repair via Interpenetration of a Non-Woven Scaffold Supports Tissue Integration and Prevents Re-Herniation." This latest publication is part of our collaborative work with the Zürich-based medical device company ZuriMED Technologies and the Snedeker Lab using their proprietary fiberlocking device for AF repair.
Emily Sharp Wins 2025 ORS Dr. Peter Roughley Award
December 10, 2024
Congratulations to PhD student Emily Sharp for earning the 2025 Orthopaedic Research Society Dr. Peter Roughley Award. Awarded by the ORS Spine Section, the Dr. Peter Roughley Award recognizes outstanding work in spine, disc, and cartilage biology and provides support for a mentor/trainee research collaboration. Under the mentorship of Dr. Sibylle Grad, Emily will use her award to travel to the AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland, utilizing their innovative six degree-of-freedom bioreactor to better understand how multi-functional biomaterials may heal or fail disc herniation patients.