UT Austin · Kinesiology and Health Education
We study how the skeletal, immune, and reproductive systems work together with the goal of making osteoporosis preventable.
Why our work matters
Osteoporosis affects more people each year than heart attack, strokes, and breast cancer combined.
50%
of women over age 50
25%
of men over age 50
>2M
new osteoporotic fractures each year
Sources: IOF Fact Sheet; Hernandez et al. 2003, Osteoporosis International
The critical window
Most of your skeleton is built before age 30.
Over 90% of bone mass accrues during adolescence. Just a 10% increase in what’s built in this window can halve lifetime fracture risk and delay osteoporosis by a decade.
We study this critical period alongside bone loss driven by aging of the reproductive and immune systems — across weeks, across a lifespan, and across generations.
Our tools:
Micro-computed tomography
Flow cytometry
Multiplex immunoassay
Mechanical testing
Finite-element analysis
Immunostaining
Flow cytometry
Multiplex immunoassay
Mechanical testing
Finite-element analysis
Immunostaining