CU Boulder leading $45M in ARPA-H grants for self-healing joints, wound care
In 2025, CU Boulder celebrated its first awards from the the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
The new agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports transformative health and biomedical breakthroughs. ARPA-H was founded in 2022 with a mission to fast-track “high-impact solutions to society’s most challenging health problems.”
A "game-changer" for osteoarthritis patients
Bryant, right, with a graduate student in her lab
CU Boulder-led team of scientists was awarded up to $39 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) earlier this year todevelop new therapies to treat osteoarthritis, a painful, degenerative disease that affects 32 million Americans.
The grant, part of ARPA-H’s Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis (NITRO) program, will support team efforts—including Թ of Colorado Anschutz and Colorado State Թ researchers—to create minimally-invasive therapies that bring relief for a condition affecting millions of people worldwide.It was CU Boulder’s first award from the new agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that supports transformative health and biomedical breakthroughs.
Project leader and principal investigator Stephanie Bryant (chemical and biological engineering, materials science and engineering, BioFrontiers Institute) and colleagues want to create a therapy that regenerates cartilage and bone cells.
For over 25 years, Bryant’s work has focused on developing three-dimensional gel-like biomaterials that can provide scaffolding to support new cells. She joined forces with co-PIs Karin Payne and Michael Zuscik (both CU Anschutz; School of Medicine, Orthopedics). Payne loaned her cell expertise and Zuscik his knowledge of biologics to a process that will essentially allow a joint to repair itself.
“Within five years, our goal is to develop a suite of non-invasive therapies that can end osteoarthritis,” Bryant said recently. “It could be an absolute game-changer for patients.”
Revolutionizing wound care
Burn your hand on a hot stove and, almost instantly, immune cells within the wound begin producing inflammatory compounds to help clear out dead tissue and fight off infection. In most cases, the swelling abates quickly, and the wound heals within days.
Bowman, left, holds a beaker of hydrogel while his graduate student illuminates it with a flashlight
But for the in the United States who suffer serious burns each year, the immune response itself can cause problems, with prolonged inflammation tearing through surrounding tissue and increasing risk of scarring, disfigurement and disability.
A team of CU Boulder scientists hopes to minimize such long-term damage by suspending that cellular immune response until the body, or care providers, are better equipped to deal with it.
Funded by a new up-to-$5.8 million, two-year contract from ARPA-H, the project could lead to new treatments for a host of serious tissue injuries, from battlefield blast wounds to frostbite and diabetic ulcers. It could be particularly useful for those without immediate access to care.
“The ultimate goal is to help patients have less pain, faster healing and less systemic damage,” said Christopher Bowman, professor of chemical and biological engineering and co-principal investigator on the project. “It could also save lives.”