Rate My Professor Farshid Guilak

Farshid Guilak is the Mildred B. Simon Research Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Professor of Developmental Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, holding appointments in the Engineering faculty. He serves as Director of Research for Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis and Co-Director of the Washington University Center of Regenerative Medicine. His research focuses on the etiology and pathogenesis of musculoskeletal conditions, particularly osteoarthritis, employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning clinical studies to subcellular mechanisms. Key areas include the roles of biomechanical and biological factors in osteoarthritis progression, obesity and inflammation effects on joint disease, mechanobiology of mechanical signal transduction in cartilage, and development of regenerative therapies using adult mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, bioartificial joint replacements, synthetic biology, and genome engineering. His laboratory has pioneered techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 for engineering cells with synthetic gene circuits that respond to inflammation or mechanical loading to secrete therapeutic drugs, and growing cartilage from patient cells for living joint replacements.

Guilak has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles, garnering more than 71,000 citations, and co-edited four books. Notable contributions include work on synthetic mechanogenetic gene circuits for drug delivery in osteoarthritis (2021) and biological resurfacing in canine models of hip osteoarthritis (2021). He holds editorial positions as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomechanics and Associate Editor for Osteoarthritis & Cartilage, and has chaired the Skeletal Biology Structure and Regeneration NIH Study Section. His accolades include election to the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to regenerative medicine and mechanobiology, election to the National Academy of Medicine (2022), the Howley Prize for Arthritis Research, Basic Research Award from the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, Senior Scientist Award from the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Arthritis Foundation Investigator Award, Cell & Molecular Bioengineering Innovator Award, Dean’s Award for Mentoring, and the Oscar Gluck Memorial Award (2020). As former President of the Orthopaedic Research Society and first PhD member of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation executive committee, Guilak has profoundly influenced orthopaedic engineering and regenerative medicine, securing major funding from NIH, NSF, DOD, and foundations, including a $31 million ARPA-H award for osteoarthritis treatments.