Wan-Ju Li, PhD

Wan-Ju Li, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, and fellow researchers Wei Xu, PhD, a professor in the Department of Oncology, and Nathan Welham, PhD, CCC-SLP, a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, received a $50,000 Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center Focus Group Award, supported by a WARF gift, for their project, Stage-Resolved Regulation of Human Neural Crest Differentiation for Cartilage and Bone Generation.

Running from March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2027, this collaborative pilot study will strengthen musculoskeletal research at UW-Madison while laying the groundwork for future external funding. The team will refine a human-induced pluripotent stem cell model of neural crest-derived cells, which play a central role in the formation of cartilage, bone, and connective tissues of the face and head.

While the work is focused on craniofacial cartilage and bone, its significance could extend far beyond the craniofacial region. By learning how to better direct neural crest cells into skeletal tissues, the team hopes to uncover principles that could also be applied to orthopedic repair in joints such as the knee and hip. That is especially exciting because neural crest-derived nasal chondrocytes have already shown strong regenerative potential in translational and clinical studies for articular cartilage repair, including treatment of knee cartilage defects and osteoarthritic knees in Europe.

In the long term, this work could help drive a shift in cell therapy by advancing neural crest-derived cells as a powerful and practical platform for regenerating cartilage and bone. Because these cells are accessible and highly cartilage competent, they may offer important advantages over more conventional cell sources. For clinical orthopedics, the potential payoff is clear: better strategies for repairing focal cartilage injuries, improving osteochondral healing, and developing more durable biologic treatments for joint degeneration.