Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, CU Anschutz, and Colorado State University have developed a set of experimental treatments that may help aging and damaged joints repair themselves in a matter of weeks. The therapies have shown promising results in animal studies, where they reversed signs of osteoarthritis and restored joint health.

The new approaches include a regenerative injection designed to be administered directly into a joint, as well as a biomaterial-based repair system that encourages the body’s own cells to rebuild damaged cartilage.

The work recently received a major boost from the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which announced that the team will move forward to the next stage of a project worth up to $33.5 million. The research is part of the ARPA-H Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis (NITRO) program, led by ARPA-H Program Manager Dr. Ross Uhrich.