Dr. Glimcher spoke to The Rheumatologist about research on Schnurri-3 (SHN3) at the Cornell-affiliated Hospital of Special Surgery (HSS). She and her research team at Harvard had discovered back in 2005 that mice without the SHN3 gene grew new bone. Now HSS researchers are investigating how SHN3 functions in bone formation. Counteracting the bony erosion that occurs in rheumatoid arthritis is just one of the possible outcomes of understanding the SHN3 function. Other applications of the knowledge could be preventing/treating osteoporosis and dealing with bone pain connected to cancer.
Exemplifying the range of her duties at Weill Cornell, and perhaps drawing on her experience as a mother of three children, Dr. Glimcher recently announced the Family Friendly Postdoctoral Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to annually provide about 10 grants of $50,000 for one or two years to outstanding postdoctoral researchers “who are primary caregivers for an infant or child.”
Ann-Marie Lindstrom is an independent writer and editor based in the Tucson, Ariz., area.
