$700,000 Grant for Lab Grown Cartilage Research

Researchers win CIHR grant towards the development of clinically implantable bioengineered human nasal cartilage grafts

11 March 2023

Congratulations to Drs. Adetola Adesida (photo), Martin Osswald, Khalid Ansari and Hadi Seikaly for being awarded a $722,925 CIHR grant towards the development of clinically implantable bioengineered human nasal cartilage grafts.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Canadians and about 40% of cases occur on the nose. the standard treatment option is to remove all the nose skin by surgery. However, this leads to loss of the underlying cartilage, which can lead to disfigurement, emotional distress, social isolation, and difficulty or loss of breathing through the nose.

The research team has demonstrated how to make nose cartilage from cartilage cells taken from a small specimen of cartilage inside the nose known as the septum. They have combined the cartilage cells with naturally occurring collagen to build and produce new nose cartilage using 3D printing technology. The manufactured nose cartilage can be the desired shape without carving by head and neck surgeons. Furthermore, the manufactured cartilage can easily be sutured during surgery. In this study, the team will study a protein that they have identified to mark high-quality cartilage-forming cells and use the acquired knowledge to inform their overarching goal to reproducibly manufacture high-quality cartilage for nose jobs in non-melanoma skin cancer patients.