Academic medical centre company Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) reported on Monday the receipt of an additional USD5.6m in grant from The Tow Foundation for translational research as well as to expand its focus from autoimmune disease to more broadly address the major musculoskeletal conditions.

As part of the grant, the company's goal is to prevent and repair musculoskeletal tissue damage related to acute or chronic injury, aging and autoimmunity and inflammation. The researchers will focus in repairing and rejuvenating tissues in tissue damage in autoimmune diseases: joint damage in arthritis; tendon degeneration and associated muscle weakness in tendinopathy; as well as bone loss in osteoporosis, arthritis and orthopaedic implant loosening.

Under the leadership of Dr Ivashkiv, the company said it has already made important contributions to understanding the function of autoimmunity genes and molecular pathways in conditions including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and scleroderma. It has recruited and mentored junior faculty who have obtained NIH grants, which is the highest metric of scientific quality and impact.

In addition, the company will be expanding to 13 new HSS faculties as well as continue its partnerships with investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Sloan-Kettering Institute and the New York Genome Center (NYGC).