The main objective of Professor Athanasiou’s research is to understand and enhance the healing processes of musculoskeletal tissues as well as the various cartilaginous tissues of the body. Another objective is to apply the translation of engineering innovations to clinical use, especially in terms of instruments and devices.

The tissue of primary importance is articular cartilage. Successful cartilage regeneration continues to be the most vexing problem in musculoskeletal medicine. Following trauma (such as sports injuries) or pathologic affliction (such as osteoarthritis), cartilage is unable to heal itself in a way that would allow it to function properly under its strenuous and biomechanically difficult environment. Of particular interest in our efforts are 1) hyaline articular cartilage, found in diarthrodial joints such as the knee, hip and shoulder, 2) menisci, in the knee and temporomandibular joint (TMJ), and 3) fibrocartilage in the TMJ. Athanasiou’s approach entails the use of the self-assembling process, which is a scaffold-free set of approaches toward engineering soft, hydrated tissues.