Dr. Yang’s research focuses on using musculoskeletal tissue engineering to treat a range of injuries and diseases such as bony birth defects, large load-bearing bony defects, and dental and orthopaedic infections. His current NIAMS-funded project supports work to develop a microenvironment for bioengineered tissues that can be used in the repair of large bone defects. The STAR award will allow Dr. Yang to pursue research to identify genes involved in rapid bone growth, which ultimately may foster the development of approaches to promote accelerated bone regeneration.