The International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Conference (ICMRC) is a biennial international academic conference organized by the International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS). The ICMRC aims to promote basic and translational orthopedic research and to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and comprehensive prevention of major musculoskeletal diseases through academic dialogue, research collaboration among domestic and foreign colleagues, and ICMRS collaborative centers. Following the success of previous ICMRCs in Suzhou, Changsha, Shihezi, and Shenzheng, the 5^th ICMRC (ICMRC-2024) will be held in Jinjiang, a historic yet vibrant city in southern China, from May 31 to June 3, 2024. ICMRS, the National Orthopaedic Research Centre at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Sixth People’s Hospital, and Fujian Jinjiang People’s Hospital will jointly host this conference.

The ICMRC-2024 will be chaired by ICMRS president Professor Guozhi Xiao, and Professors Changqing Zhang, Jean Jiang, and Ming Chen. The theme of this meeting is “Embracing Cutting-edge Cell and Molecular Biotechnologies and Material Sciences to Advance Basic and Translational Orthopedic Research.” The conference will cover topics including bone metabolism, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, disc and vertebrate degeneration, musculoskeletal development and degeneration, tendon and ligament biology, stem cell and tissue engineering, biomaterials, biomechanics, bone tumor and the application of new technologies in the orthopedic field. Abstract submission will open on January 1 and close on February 15, 2024, USA Eastern time. Leading scientists from the United States, Canada, Australia, European countries, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China will be invited to share their exciting findings and insights. This conference will feature exciting programs, including presentations, symposia, and best abstract and young investigator awards, to facilitate the discussion of state-of-the-art musculoskeletal research and clinical applications.

Welcome to ICMRS-2024!

International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS) is pleased to announce the first inaugural scientific awards to our members who have made outstanding contributions to their scientific and professional career in musculoskeletal science and medicine.

2023 Lifetime Achievement Award

The ICMRS Lifetime Achievement Award is to honor a scholar who has devoted much of his/her career to the advancement in musculoskeletal science and medicine. Throughout their career the awardee has demonstrated the scientific excellence in research and innovation and provided mentorship and in their leadership, service, education, and professional relationships. This prestigious award honors an individual who is a basic researcher and/or clinician in the field of musculoskeletal medicine.

Prof. Kerong Dai, MD, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine

The ICMRS Lifetime Achievement Award has been honored to Prof. Dai Kerong Dai, MD, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, who has made substantial contributions in the areas of medical application of Orthopedic Biomechanics, 3D Bioprinting, Stem Cell Engineering, Arthroplasty, and Osteoporosis. He has published more than 500 papers as first author and co-author and books as editor-in-chief or contributor, and also have been honored with 45 prizes including Chinese National Invention Prize, National Science and Technology Prize, etc. He is the chief scientist of Shanghai Medical 3D Printing Innovation Research Center. He and his team have carried out a series of basic and clinical research on stem cell technology to promote bone regeneration and participated in the invention and translation of related research into clinical application (NMPA 20213101079). The 3D printing center also witness the China first registration certificate for 3D printed personalized artificial bone joint prosthesis (NMPA 3050065: 2003) and the world’s first 3D printed bioactive bone grafts for clinical application.

2023 Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award

The Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award is awarded to a clinical scientist making outstanding contributions to the field of clinical management of musculoskeletal diseases including surgical management and therapeutics, epidemiology and health-services research and clinical outcomes. The awardees should be established Investigators who are at the full professor level. This research should have been conducted within the last five years. 

Prof. Qing Jiang, MD, PhD, at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University

The Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award has been honored to Professor Qing Jiang, MD, PhD, at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, who is Orthopedic consultant who has been practicing medicine for 34 years and performed more than 20,000 surgeries and treated more than 100,000 patients. He had been engaged in orthopedic and sports medicine clinical and basic research since 1989. Prof. Jiang Mainly engaged in the basic and clinical research of sports system diseases, and published 243 Chinese core articles, 289 SCI articles, included Nature Medicine, Nature Genetic, Nature Communications, Cell Metabolism, PNAS, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Science Translational Medicine, Advanced Materials, ACS NANO etc. Prof. Jiang is the editorial board member of several SCI magazines, include BMC musculoskeletal disorders, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and Orthopedic Surgery, and created an English magazine Annals of Joint as the chief editor. He led the preparation of the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis, and also participated in the preparation of several domestic orthopedics guides and was invited to give lessons in Australia and Japan for many times.

2023 Distinguished Translational Research Investigator Award

The Distinguished Translational Research Investigator Award is awarded to a scientist and/or clinician who has made outstanding contributions and impact to the field of musculoskeletal research by translating a research concept or idea into clinical application. The awardees should be established Investigators who are at the full professor level. Considering the length of research translation from concept to product approval or clinical trial normally takes a long time, there will be no limit on when the research is conducted.

Dr Hua Zhu (David) Ke, Founder and CEO, Angitia Biopharmaceuticals

The Distinguished Translational Research Investigator Award has been honored to Dr Hua Zhu (David) Ke, Founder and CEO, Angitia Biopharmaceuticals, who has dedicated all his efforts on the discovery and development of innovative drugs for treatment of serious musculoskeletal diseases for the last 30 years. Before founding Angitia in 2018, David served as Vice President and the Head of Bone Therapeutic Area in UCB Pharma in the United Kingdom, and Scientific Executive Director and Head of Bone Research in Amgen Inc. in the United States, and Research Fellow and Head of Bone Pharmacology in Pfizer Central Research and Development in the United States. As one of the major contributors, David led his teams to the successful discover and development of blockbuster innovative drugs for treatment of serious bone diseases that have been launched in United States, Europe, Japan, China, and other parts of the world. These innovative drugs included Prolia (osteoporosis), Xgeva (bone metastases) and Evenity (osteoporosis).

2023 Distinguished Basic Research Investigator Award

The Distinguished Clinical Research Investigator is awarded to a basic scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of musculoskeletal research in all areas of basic science including biology, bioengineering and biomaterials. The awardees should be established. Investigators who are at the full professor level. This research should have been conducted within the last five years. 

Prof. Xu Cao, PhD at Johns Hopkins University

The Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award has been honored to Professor Xu Cao, PhD at Johns Hopkins University, who has strived to discover the fundamental mechanisms of bone biology to gain a deeper understanding of major musculoskeletal disorders and develop potential therapies for these bone diseases. We have revealed the coupling mechanism of bone remodeling in the maintenance of bone homeostasis, in which TGF-β activated by osteoclasts induces migration of mesenchymal stem cells to bone resorptive sites for bone formation. The recruited mesenchymal stem cells then undergo differentiation for bone formation. The coupled bone remodeling by TGF-β is associated with angiogenesis. Alterations in the coupling process in bone remodeling leads to many skeletal diseases. Our research in those fields has been published in Cell Stem Cell, Nat Med., Nat Commun., J Clin Invest. etc. We have organized and planned several clinical trials to investigate topics such as stem cell recruitment in anabolic versus antiresorptive osteoporosis therapy. We have also screened and synthesized a series of small molecules for osteoarthritis and spine disc degeneration. Our goal is to create effective disease-modifying therapies to treat osteoarthritis, spine disc generation, and other major skeletal diseases.

Minghao Zheng, MD, PhD, President of ICMRS (2021-2023)

Medical School, The University of Western Australia, WA, 6009

Minghao.zheng@uwa.edu.au

ASBMR 2023 Louis V. Avioli Founders Award Recipient

Fanxin Long, Ph.D.                       

Professor and William Wikoff Smith Endowed Chair in Pediatric Genomic Research

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

and the University of Pennsylvania, USA

Fellow of ASBMR 2023   

      

Hong-Wen Deng, Ph.D.               

Professor, Aron Family Endowed Chair.

Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics & Genomics,

Tulane University, USA  

Awards

Han Jiao*                         Hebei Medical University              2023 ASBMR President's Award

Donghao Gan                  Southern Univ of Sci & Tech              2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award

Jiawei Lu                          University of Pennsylvania              2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award
Rui Hua, Ph.D.                 Univ. of Texas Health Sci Ctr              2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award

Jiekang Wang*                Johns Hopkins University              2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award

Yongli Qin                        HSS and Cornell Univ                    2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award

Qiwen Li, DMD, Ph.D     Sichuan University                        2023 ASBMR Young Investigator Award

*Recipients of the 2023 Fall ICMRS Webster Jee Young Investigator Award.

Member Gathering

Organized by the ICMRS Woman leadership committee chair Prof. Liyun Wang, about 50 ICMRS members who attended the ASBMR 2023 annual meeting gathered at the Victoria Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver to celebrate the accomplishments made by ICMRS and its members. The ICMRS president, Prof. Guozhi Xiao, conveyed his virtual greetings and congratulations to the attendees, particularly ICMRS women scientists, who have made tremendous contributions to our community.

(By Liyun Wang and Wentian Yang)

The International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS) convened its 2023 Fall Membership Meeting virtually on October 8, 2023, led by Dr. Wentian Yang, Chair of the ICMRS Program Committee and faculty member at Brown University Alpert Medical School. Dr. Yang initiated the session with a warm welcome to the ICMRS community.

To commence, Professor Minghao Zheng, the immediate past president of ICMRS and a faculty member at the University of Western Australia, provided a brief overview of the society's achievements over the past two years. Under his leadership, ICMRS witnessed steady growth in revenue and membership, now boasting 685 members and 41 collaborative centers worldwide. New award categories were established to honor members' academic and leadership accomplishments, and the ICMRS-Oxford translation meeting in musculoskeletal research was successfully organized. Professor Zheng also outlined future challenges for ICMRS.

Following this, Dr. Guozhi Xiao, the newly elected President of ICMRS and a professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUST), delivered his inaugural speech. Dr. Xiao shared his aspirations for the community and articulated his vision for ICMRS in the coming years. He introduced his leadership team and committee chairs.

The event proceeded with the traditional Webster Jee Young Investigator Awards ceremony and keynote seminars. Professor Jerry Feng from Texas A&M announced the award winners, each of whom—Han Jiao (Hebei Medical University), Jiekang Wang (Johns Hopkins University), Jingruo Zhang (University of Texas Health Science Center), Tailin He (Southern University of Science and Technology), and Hao Zhou (Zhejiang University School of Medicine)—delivered brief presentations on their award-winning discoveries. They each received a $500 prize and a plaque. Professor Mone Zaidi from Icahn Sinai School of Medicine in New York presented a captivating lecture on "Pituitary Crosstalk Between Bone, Body Fat, and Brain." Additionally, Professor Veronique Lefebvre from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania shared recent findings on "SOXC Are Critical Regulators of Adult Bone Mass."

The Fall ICMRS membership meeting also featured updates from three editors, Professors Hui Yang, Yixian Qin, and Gang Li, who discussed the three ICMRS-sponsored journals: Bone Research, Mechanobiology in Medicine, and Journal of Orthopedic Translation.

The meeting achieved great success with over 326 attendees, including ICMRS members and non-member guests worldwide.

(By Dr. Jiahui Huang)

ICMRS W J Young Investigator Award Abstract Submission Guidelines:

• Write your abstract in Microsoft Word using Times New Roman.  A template is available below to create your abstract.
• Be sure that all text (including title, authors, institutions, and abstract body) fits onto one page, with an abstract body of no more than a 2500-character limit.
• No figures are allowed for abstract submission this time.
• Once you have the one-page abstract, convert it into two PDF files (blind and un-blind formats) and complete the online submission.

Abstract Submission Deadline: Tuesday, September 5th, 2023

Abstract Template Title

Kenton Lewis¹, Thomas B. Siegel^{1, 2}, Koji L. Fujii¹, Deepak Kumar²

¹University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, ²Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Email of Presenting Author

Abstract body using the following format:  abstract information must not appear on or outside the margins. Abstracts must be created in a Word document formatted to 8.5” x 11” (21.59cm x 27.94cm) with the following margin settings:  1 inch for all sides. Font should be 12 points for the Title and 11 points for all authors, institutions, and body sections. Times New Roman is the only font approved for use.

Abstract Body (no more than 2500 characters)

(Remember to save abstracts as a PDF before uploading to the submission site.)

Abstracts should fit 1 page.

CALL FOR ICMRS 2023 FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING AND WEBSTER JEE YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARDS

The International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS) will virtually launch the 2023 Fall Membership Meeting on October 8^th (Beijing Time). This meeting provides a platform for ICMRS members to exchange information on all frontiers of musculoskeletal research and integrate knowledge from diverse research specialties. In an endeavor to enrich the discussion, we will host two keynote talks presented by internationally renowned scientists. In addition, we will also present the Webster Jee Young Investigator Awards to recognize the academic achievements of young ICMRS members. The award recipients will be announced during the membership meeting. Each awardee will receive a certificate/plaque, an honorarium of 500 USD, and is required to give a short presentation about their work online. The 2023 Fall ICMRS Membership Meeting program will be announced soon.

Applicants may find more details about the ICMRS at http://www.icmrs.net.

Eligibility for Webster Jee Young Investigator Award:

• Current ICMRS member (to register: http://www.icmrs.net/join-us)
• Current graduate and/or medical student, post-doc or equivalent, junior faculty and professionals who received Ph.D. or MD for no more than 5 years.
• Has not received the award previously.
• Applicants are not required to be of Chinese heritage.

Selection

Please prepare your abstract for the ICMRS WJ Young Investigator application by following the instructions posted at our website. Your abstract, in both blind and un-blind formats, should be submitted via the following e-mail address: icmrs@icmrs.net, no later than September 5^th, 2023. All submitted abstracts will be peer-reviewed blindly by a panel appointed by the ICMRS Program Committee. The top-scored abstracts will be selected as the awardee. As a general rule, no more than one award will be given to applicants from the same research laboratory/group/institution in the same awarding cycle.

The annual ICMRS Membership Zoom Meeting was held online on Feburary 25, 2023. Professor Guozhi Xiao, the Program Committee Chair and President-Elect of ICMRS from Southern University of Science and Technology organized and presided over the meeting. Dr. Minghao Zheng, ICMRS president and professor of the University of Western Australia gave a brief summary on the current state of ICMRS and the society’s progresses during the last year under his leadership.

As a tradition, the membership meeting was highlighted by the Webster Jee Young Investigator Awards session. This year’s winners are Drs. Yuantao Zhang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Mingyue Fan (Drexel University), Jiawei Lu (University of Pennsylvania), Yiyang Ma (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Donghao Gan (Southern University of Science and Technology) and Bryan Kwok (Drexel University). A cash prize of $500 and an award plaque will be given to each awardee shortly after the meeting.

This year’s membership meeting has invited two keynote speakers. Dr. Richard Oreffo, Professor in Musculoskeletal Science from the University of Southampton presented a highly exciting talk entitled “New approaches to skeletal cell-based bone regeneration from bench to clinic”. Dr. Ling Qin, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, the University of Pennsylvania, presented her recent scientific findings entitled “Single-cell profiling of skeletal progenitors”.

This meeting has achieved a great success with about 300 ICMRS members and guests attended the meeting. （by Dr. Guozhi Xiao）

Dear ICMRS Members,

Happy New Year 2023!

As the new year begins, ICMRS is proud to announce five new award opportunities with honorarium. These awards are aimed to recognize the research excellency and outstanding service of our members:

a) Lifetime Achievement Award 

b) Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award

c) Distinguished Translational Research Investigator Award

d) Distinguished Basic Science Research Investigator Award

e) Service Medal

Click ICMRS Awards2023.pdf for more information and nomination instructions on each award. All ICMRS members are eligible to receive an award, except as restricted by specific award criteria. The nomination package should be submitted to the Chair of Nomination Committee (qinling@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) before the deadline Sunday, April 30, 2023 (midnight, US EST). We will announce the final awardees and celebrated their achievements in 2023 ICMRS Fall Membership Meeting!

ICMRS Nomination Committee

Dear members of ICMRS,

2022 has been a remarkable year for ICMRS.  We would like to begin this note by saying the global musculoskeletal research could not have made such significant progress without the hard work from you.  

Since our inception, ICMRS has had a clear mission to advance the global musculoskeletal research agenda through excellence in education, research collaboration, and networking. A look back at 2022, our members have made outstanding contribution to the research of musculoskeletal research from different continents in the world. Notably, a remarkable study (Chen et al) published in Nature led by Professors Shunwu Fan and Xianfeng Lin from our ICMRS centre at the Sun Run-Run Shown Hospital at Zhejiang University, which made an international news headline. The team has done crossing species transfer of plant derived sacs known as thylakoids into animal and human cells. Delivering chondrocyte membrane coated nano-thylakoids into the osteoarthritic mouse knee joints slowed down cartilage degeneration after light activation. The team reported for the first time, scientists can use light to synthesis ATP in human and animal cells and cure disease.

During 2022, ICMRSI has improved the financial situation significantly. We have increased our revenue by over $66k. We have now established new research awards including  a) Lifetime Achievement Award,  b) Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award, c) Distinguished Translational Research Investigator Award,  d) Distinguished Basic Science Research Investigator Award. E) ICMRS Service Medals. Announcement for call of award nomination has been made by the nomination committee in December for the deadline in April 2023.  Our membership has increased 11.5% to 709 members.  ICMRS had European chapter at the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Society meeting in Edinburgh and Asia-Pacific Chapter in Australia this year. Two more collaborative centres were established this year, reaching a total of 38 collaborative centres in China. In August 2023, we will have ICMRS centre retreats at Oxford, UK during the meeting of ICMRS Translational medicine in MSK diseases.  We have given over 20 online lectures this year with focus of promoting young investigators. ICMRS wechat public media has attracted more than 4000 followers internationally.  With the great influence an impact on MSK research by our society, we will organise the  International MSK submit 2023 in Broome, Australia on July 2023.  Our society official journals Bone Research and Journal of Orthopaedic Translation continue to lead musculoskeletal research.

Here we like to take an opportunity to thank you all. You are the member of the ICMRS family and have made important contributions to the society.  Our special thanks go to our sponsor Lancet Robotics- Mr. Zhijun Hang and Kun Xian and the ICMRS leadership team -Professors Qing Jiang, Bin Li, Bingyun Li, Qin Ling, Sherry Liu Yang Liu, Guozhi Xiao, Xiaoling Zhang, Xinping Zhang.

At the moment of 2023 cerebration, may warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. May love, safe and prosperity follow you always.

Professor Minghao Zheng                                                         

President of ICMRS                                                                        

The University of Western Australia                                          

Professor Jean Jiang

Board of Director, ICMRS

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

The annual ICMRS-ASBMR Membership Zoom Meeting was held online on September 24, 2022. Professor Guozhi Xiao, the Program Committee Chair and President-Elect of ICMRS from Southern University of Science and Technology organized and presided over the meeting. He started by welcoming all ICMRS members, distinguished professors, and non-member guests to attend the meeting.

Dr. Minghao Zheng,  ICMRS president and professor of the University of Western Australia gave a summary report on the current state of ICMRS and the society’s progresses in the last year under his leadership. Thanks to the hard work of the ICMRS Executive Committee, his team has achieved the initially set goals, including the increase of revenue and establishment of new research awards, expansion of ICMRS membership (709 members) and collaborative centers (38 centers), and growing impact of ICMRS WeChat public media (more than 4000 followers).

As a tradition, the membership meeting was highlighted by the Webster Jee Young Investigator Awards session. This year’s winners are Peng Liao from Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital, Mingjue Chen from Southern University of Science and Technology, Delin Liu from The University of Western Australia, Jun Sun from Weill Cornell Medicine, and Baohong Shi from Xiamen University. A cash prize of $500 and an award plaque will be given to each awardee shortly after the meeting.

This year’s membership meeting has invited two keynote speakers. Dr. Natalie A. Sims from St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and The University of Melbourne provided a highly fascinating presentation entitled “Using mouse models to understand cortical bone development and degeneration”. Dr. Qing Jiang, the Director and Professor of the center of Diagnosis and Treatment for Joint Disease, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Nanjing University, presented recent scientific findings from his laboratory titled “Defects in a liver-bone axis contribute to hepatic osteodystrophy disease progression”.

This meeting has achieved a great success with more than 320 ICMRS members and guests attended the meeting. Here are some screenshots of the meeting moments.

（by Dr. Rui Hua）