College of Veterinary Medicine

Education:

B.S., Biology, St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, 1972
Ph.D., Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1979

 

Honors and Awards:

Graduated Cum Laude, St. Joseph's College, 1972
NASA Cosmos Achievement Award, for participation in U.S. experiments on the Soviet Cosmos 1129 biological satellite, 1981
C.E. Cornelius Young Investigator Award, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 1988
Member, Editorial Board for the journal Bone, 1989-present
Graduate Student Service Award, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 1994
SmithKline Beecham Award for Research Excellence, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 1994
NIH MERIT Award for sustained contributions to aging research, National Institute on Aging, 1997
Member, External Advisory Council for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, 1997-2003
Research Professorship Award for a distinguished record of research and scholarship, University of Florida, 1999
Member, Board of Directors for the International Society of Bone Morphometry, 1999-present
Member, Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, 2003-present
Teacher of Year Award, Class of 2007, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2004
Member, Editorial Board for the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2006-present

Research Interests:

My research involves preclinical testing of new drugs and hormones for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, a bone disorder that afflicts millions of elderly women. These studies are performed in the ovariectomized rat, a widely accepted animal model for postmenopausal bone loss. Bone samples are subjected to histomorphometric analysis with a computer-assisted, image analysis system to determine the effects of the various treatments on bone mass and levels of bone resorption and formation. In addition, molecular biology techniques are used to determine the effects of novel osteoporosis therapies on gene expression for selected growth factors, cytokines, and bone matrix proteins. The same histomorphometric and molecular biology techniques are used to investigate the skeletal effects of actual and simulated space flight.

Selected Publications:

For Publications Extracted From Medline Click HERE

Westerlind, K.C., Wronski, T.J., Luo, Z-P., An, K-N., Bell, N.H., Turner, R.T.: Estrogen regulates the rate of bone turnover but bone balance in ovariectomized rats is modulated by prevailing mechanical strain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 94:4199-4204, 1997.

Wronski, T.J., Li, M., Shen, Y., Miller, S.C., Bowman,B.M., Kostenuik, P., Halloran, B.P.: Lack of effect of space flight on bone mass and bone formation in group-housed rats. J. Appl.Physiol. 85:279-285, 1998.

Liang, H., Pun, S., Wronski, T.J.:Bone anabolic effects of basic fibroblast growth factor in ovariectomized rats. Endocrinology 140:5780-5788, 1999.

Wronski, T.J., Ratkus, A.M., Thomsen, J.S., Vulcan, Q., Mosekilde, Li.:Sequential treatment with basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and parathyroid hormone restores lost cancellous bone mass and strength in the proximal tibia of aged ovariectomized rats. J. Bone Miner. Res. 16:1399-1407, 2001.

Iwaniec, U.T., Mosekilde, Li., Mitova-Caneva, N.G., Thomsen, J.S., Wronski, T.J.:Sequential treatment with basic fibroblast growth factor and parathyroid hormone is more efficacious than treatment with parathyroid hormone alone for increasing vertebral bone mass and strength in osteopenic ovariectomized rats. Endocrinology 143:2515-2526, 2002.

Power, R.A., Iwaniec, U.T., Wronski, T.J.:Changes in gene expression associated with the bone anabolic effects of basic fibroblast growth factor in aged ovariectomized rats. Bone 31:143-148, 2002.

Power, R.A., Iwaniec, U.T., Magee, K.A., Mitova-Caneva, N.G., Wronski, T.J.:Basic fibroblast growth factor has rapid bone anabolic effects in ovariectomized rats. Osteoporosis Int. 15:716-723, 2004.

Iwaniec, U.T., Wronski, T.J., Amblard, D., Nishimura, Y., van der Meulen, M.C.H., Wade, C.E., Bourgeois, M.A., Damsky, C.D., Globus, R.K.:Effects of disrupted b1-integrin function on the skeletal response to short-term hindlimb unloading in mice. J. Appl. Physiol. 98:690-696, 2005.

Iwaniec, U.T., Moore, K., Rivera, M.F., Myers, S.E., Vanegas, S.M., Wronski, T.J.: A comparative study of the bone restorative efficacy of anabolic agents in aged ovariectomized rats. Osteoporosis Int. 18:351-362, 2007.

Aguirre, J.I., Leal, M.E., Rivera, M.F., Vanegas, S.M., Jorgensen, M., Wronski, T.J.: Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor and a prostaglandin E2 subtype 4 agonist on osteoblastogenesis and adipogenesis in aged ovariectomized rats. J. Bone Miner. Res. 22:877-888, 2007.