"One step closer to finding a new source of bone generation"

Harrison Mackler '08 hopes his summer research will bring science one step closer to finding a new source of bone generation for people who lose bone from trauma or illness. Thanks to funding from a Steinbrecher Fellowship, he was able to purchase cells and tissue culture reagents for use in his tissue engineering research last summer in Clark's biology labs. Read Macker's e-mail diaries about his summer 2006 research.

Mackler's project, which he plans to use for his senior honors thesis in biology, is aimed at evaluating the biocompatibility of a bone scaffold material that will support the transformation of stem cells into bone cells that can potentially be used as a replacement for traditional bone grafts. This potential new source could provide new treatment for patients suffering from illnesses such as osteoporosis, arthritis and cancer.

An aspiring dentist, Mackler got the idea for his research project after Clark's London Internship Program matched him with Dr. Lucy Di Silvio of the Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics at King's College London Dental School in the spring of 2006. In Di Silvio's lab, he worked alongside Ph.D. students and became involved in research aimed at developing alternatives to traditional bone grafts. There he observed how alternative bone-graft research might be applied in a dental context. Because Dr. Di Silvio's lab was in a hospital, he spent time observing real dental procedures.

"I went to a cleft palate clinic, where I could see the problems that occur when the mouth does not form correctly during development in the womb," said Mackler. "Those were the real-life applications of bone grafts." At the end of the spring internship, Dr. Di Silvio helped him design a program of research that he could continue at Clark under the mentorship of his faculty advisor, biologist Timothy Lyerla.

The David C. Steinbrecher '81 Endowed Undergraduate Fellowship Program was established in 2005 by family and friends in memory of David Steinbrecher '81 to encourage and support Clark undergraduates in their pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and public service or enrichment projects.

Give to the Clark Fund now and help more students like Harrison Mackler pursue their intellectual passions while making a difference in the world. Please give today.

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