Drs. Alejandro Almarza and Juan Taboas have been awarded a 4-year NIH R01 grant to evaluate a new regenerative therapy for mandibular condylar cartilage degeneration. The articulating tissue of the condyle is consists of an intricate interface between fibrous, cartilaginous, and boney tissue that is essential for normal function. The most severe cases of temporomandibular join disorders (TMJs) suffer condyle degeneration, but no clinical regenerative therapies exists. The objective of this study is to regenerate the fibrocartilage-bone interface of the condyle in skeletally mature goats using a comprehensive tissue engineering approach. The PI’s will create a grove-shaped condylar defect in adult goats and treat it with a novel multilayer scaffold implant designed to promote site-specific tissue regeneration. A multilayer scaffold will provide for site-specific fibrous-cartilage-bone regeneration when compared to a homogenous sponge scaffold and untreated control defects. This work will lead to therapies for TMJ mandibular cartilage degeneration and serve as a basis for successful osteochondral tissue regeneration in other sites. The grant is awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine for over $2.5 million dollars.