Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Gerlinde Wernig, Pathology

Osteoporosis and its negative repercussions, such as increased rates of fatality, bone fracturing, and care dependency, affect 44 million people in the United States alone. Conventional osteoporosis treatments, such as calcium and vitamin D supplementation, have been proven to be ineffective, especially if implemented after the primary fracture has already occurred. Claire’s project will use a mouse model to test what effects locally inducing the transcription factor c-Jun into a fracture site will have on the overall rate of fracture healing and the resulting bone mass.