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“Combating osteoporosis and obesity with exercise: leveraging cell mechanosensitivity”

Center for Biotechnology Director Dr. Clinton Rubin has co-authored a recent article published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology ““Combating osteoporosis and obesity with exercise: leveraging cell mechanosensitivity”.  Abstract below, full article here.

Abstract: 

Osteoporosis, a condition of skeletal decline that undermines quality of life, is treated with pharmacological interventions that are associated with poor adherence and adverse effects. Complicating efforts to improve clinical outcomes, the incidence of obesity is increasing, predisposing the population to a range of musculoskeletal complications and metabolic disorders. Pharmacological management of obesity has yet to deliver notable reductions in weight and debilitating complications are rarely avoided. By contrast, exercise shows promise as a non-invasive and non-pharmacological method of regulating both osteoporosis and obesity. The principal components of exercise — mechanical signals — promote bone and muscle anabolism while limiting formation and expansion of fat mass. Mechanical regulation of bone and marrow fat might be achieved by regulating functions of differentiated cells in the skeletal tissue while biasing lineage selection of their common progenitors — mesenchymal stem cells. An inverse relationship between adipocyte versus osteoblast fate selection from stem cells is implicated in clinical conditions such as childhood obesity and increased marrow adiposity in type 2 diabetes mellitus, as well as contributing to skeletal frailty. Understanding how exercise-induced mechanical signals can be used to improve bone quality while decreasing fat mass and metabolic dysfunction should lead to new strategies to treat chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and obesity.

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

[post_title] => BioREACH: Translational Research Funding Opportunity [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => bioreach-translational-research-funding-opportunity [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2026-09-04 11:55:36 [post_modified_gmt] => 2026-09-04 15:55:36 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=5065 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 2358 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2016-08-04 17:10:02 [post_date_gmt] => 2016-08-04 17:10:02 [post_content] => Codagenix, a CFB client company, has announced that it has been awarded a $99,710 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to commence the development of an influenza vaccine for swine. Codagenix will apply its next-generation platform technology to construct a vaccine against influenza viruses that infect swine, which, according to the USDA’s 2014 Census of Agriculture is a $22.5 billion industry here in the United States. Read more here. logo [post_title] => Codagenix Receives Phase I SBIR Grant for Swine Influenza Virus Vaccine [post_excerpt] => Codagenix has announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to commence the development of an influenza vaccine for swine. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => codagenix-receives-phase-i-sbir-grant-for-swine-influenza-virus-vaccine [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2016-08-04 17:23:19 [post_modified_gmt] => 2016-08-04 17:23:19 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=2358 [menu_order] => 169 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 2971 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2018-05-15 15:18:07 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-05-15 15:18:07 [post_content] => The Long Island BioMentor Initiative (LIBMI) officially accepted its first program applications in a “launch event” at the de Seversky Mansion on Thursday May 10, 2018. Already a year into a “pilot phase,” the LIBMI was developed in league with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Venture Mentoring Service which employs an “objective team-mentoring model” for early-stage businesses that champions one strict rule above all others: The uber-qualified mentors are prohibited from investing in, pitching business to or otherwise profiting from their mentees. Read the full article from Innovate Long Island. [post_title] => “Heavy-Hitting LI BioMentor Initiative Makes It Official” [post_excerpt] => The Long Island BioMentor Initiate (LIBMI) officially “launches” at an event held at the de Seversky Mansion on Thursday May 10, 2018. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => heavy-hitting-li-biomentor-initiative-makes-it-official [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2019-01-25 14:48:57 [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-01-25 14:48:57 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=2971 [menu_order] => 122 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4725 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2025-02-27 14:06:04 [post_date_gmt] => 2025-02-27 19:06:04 [post_content] =>

Stony Brook University faculty member and CFB supported researcher, Eric Brouzes, is leading a research to develop new testing methods for cervical cancer that do not require expensive equipment. The project has received a two-year grant of $50K per year from the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Read more from SBU News: https://news.stonybrook.edu/university/new-test-for-cervical-cancer-tackles-healthcare-inequalities/

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

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