Musculoskeletal Imaging - Bone Growth and Development
Childhood and adolescence are pivotal stages for skeletal development. While genetics set the potential range for peak bone mass, environmental factors, such as exercise, determine the developmental trajectory within this range. Despite the importance of this growth phase, many questions remain about the interplay between genetic and environmental factors on bone development. The primary goal of my research is to use advanced medical imaging to deepen our understanding of how genetic and environmental factors influence skeletal growth by adopting a phenotypic approach to characterizing paediatric bone growth. This strategy aims to facilitate early detection of atypical bone growth and help guide lifestyle interventions to obtain optimal child-specific skeletal development. To address this, my lab seeks to 1) create computational methods for quantifying dynamic bone growth using multi-scale medical imaging, 2) identify common bone phenotypes and their developmental trajectories in typical children and those with genetic diseases, and 3) investigating how lifestyle factors, especially physical activity, influence bone growth trajectories across bone phenotypes.