Dr. Kurt Hankenson, recently appointed to the Dean W. Richardson Professorship in Equine Disease Research, has a career that embraces both equine and human medicine.

His research utilizes cross-species approaches to study orthopaedic conditions that impact both humans and domestic animals, particularly horses. Dr. Hankenson’s research is focused on regenerative medicine, a field of study that attempts to heal injured tissues (such as bone or cartilage) using a variety of potential therapeutic approaches. These treatment approaches could include small molecule therapeutics, protein-based drugs, or the use of stem cells in combination with tissue engineering. Currently, Dr. Hankenson is focused specifically on studying mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in orthopaedic regenerative medicine. MSCs can form bone, cartilage, ligaments and tendons (skeletal tissues) and the cells also serve to support repair. Thus, his research aims to promote orthopaedic tissue repair by targeting MSCs therapeutically.

Injuries to bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons are very common in both human and animal patients. A significant percentage of patient visits to a physician or a veterinarian are related to orthopaedic conditions. Orthopaedic conditions are of particular concern for equine athletes. In the horse, orthopaedic conditions include bone fractures, arthritis, suspensory ligament damage, and bowed tendons, as well as a myriad of other conditions that result in lameness and poor performance. Similar orthopaedic conditions affect humans and other domestic animals, particularly dogs.

Dr. Hankenson’s research is highly collaborative and includes partnerships across Penn. Working with Drs. Susan Volk and Kim Agnello (co-leaders of the study) in Penn Vet’s Department of Clinical Studies - Philadelphia, Dr. Hankenson is investigating delivery of MSC to repair cartilage damage associated with elbow dysplasia in dogs. At New Bolton Center, working with Drs. Dean Richardson and Hannah Galantino-Homer, Dr. Hankenson is focused on studying whether MSC can be used to heal a variety of equine orthopaedic conditions, including laminitis.

In a larger project, funded by the Department of Defense, the Osteosynthesis and Trauma Care Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Hankenson and collaborators from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (Dr. Jason Burdick), the Perelman School of Medicine (Drs. Jaimo Ahn and Samir Mehta), and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Dr. Kathleen Loomes) are taking a multi-pronged approach to study the importance of Notch signaling in regulating bone regeneration. Notch is a cell-to-cell signaling pathway that regulates stem cells, and this group, led by Dr. Hankenson, has shown that activating Notch signaling can promote bone regeneration. Thus, they are currently developing a regenerative therapy that will deliver a protein directly to sites of bone injury to accelerate greater bone formation. Dr. Hankenson and his former student, Dr. Mike Dishowitz, have formed a start-up biotechnology company that is developing this therapy for human and animal applications.

Enhancing bone repair in this way will hopefully result in a faster return to functionality for those with bone injuries. Dr. Hankenson believes this could be particularly important for horses with bone injuries who develop laminitis in opposing limbs due to the weight-bearing problems associated with bone fractures. If bone repair can be accelerated, then weight bearing on the injured limb can be equalized faster, hopefully preventing laminitis in the uninjured limb.