The SRC has ongoing research activities in various areas related to the spine. The study of disc metabolism, disc degeneration and disc regeneration is a principal focus. Our first concepts for mechanical and biological disc repair strategies promoting guided tissue growth onto and into engineered scaffolds have been evaluated in the laboratory and in vivo trials. Knowledge gained in these preliminary studies will be consolidated into future treatment methods for clinical application.

The physiological integrity of the intervertebral disc is substantially determined by the supply of nutrients and the removal of metabolic waste products from the tissue. As transport phenomena in disc tissue are not yet sufficiently understood, we are conducting basic research into determining the mechanisms of solute transport through disc tissue to better understand the consequences of age-related changes to the disc and surrounding vascular supply and to apply these findings in the development of new in vitro and in vivo methods of enhancing disc tissue growth and repair.