Dr. Prabaha Sikder, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MCE), has been awarded new funding from the National Institutes of Health to improve the treatment of severe muscle loss injuries. The $3 million, five-year R01 award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is titled “An Intelligent Biorobot for the Regenerative Rehabilitation of Volumetric Muscle Loss Defects.” This is Dr. Sikder’s second R01 award in less than a year, adding to a grant awarded in 2024 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Volumetric Muscle Loss (VML) refers to severe musculoskeletal injuries that result in significant and irrecoverable loss of skeletal muscle tissue. Such injuries may be the result of road accidents, gunshot wounds, or open fractures (where bone pierces the skin), among others. Current treatment methods can reconstruct muscle tissue but there is a challenge with regenerating neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), resulting in impaired limb function, disability, and possible amputation of a limb. The goal of the research is to create a biorobot that will improve the establishment of NMJs using electrical stimulation, a method that is known to induce the growth of axons (nerve cells) in muscles. To generate the electrical stimulation, the biorobot will incorporate piezoelectric materials that will generate electrical charge when the robot is stretched by muscle contractions during rehabilitation exercises by the patient.

Dr. Sikder will work alongside Dr. Chandra Kothapalli, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (CBE), and Dr. Koyal Garg from Saint Louis University. Dr. Kothapalli, an expert in tissue engineering, will work with Dr. Sikder on the printing and lab testing of the biorobot platform in an environment that can simulate muscle contractions, which they will use to optimize the design of the biorobot. Dr. Garg will evaluate the optimized biorobot platforms in animal models.

The team will also benefit from consultation with research clinicians at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Frank Papay, MD, is Section Head of Craniofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Clinic and specializes in treating injuries involving VML, such as open fracture wounds and gunshot injuries. Dr. Amory Starkey, DPT, is a physical therapist specializing in physical rehabilitation of patients who have suffered severe injuries like VML. They will focus on pathways to transition the biorobot from lab and animal testing to a clinically viable treatment method.

Dr. Sikder’s work in this area is also supported by a recent NIH R03 research grant investigating piezoelectric stimulation to generate extracellular vesicles that then promote muscle tissue formation and remodeling. He is also actively funded for his work to develop novel polymer and bioceramic materials for bone tissue engineering.