Amy Lynn McNulty

McNulty

Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery

The McNulty Lab is working to develop strategies to prevent osteoarthritis and to promote tissue repair and regeneration following joint injury. In order to accomplish this, we are working in three main areas.  1) We are working to understand the pathways that are activated by normal and injurious mechanical loading of cartilage and meniscus and how these mechanotransduction pathways are altered during aging, injury, and tissue degeneration. A greater understanding of alterations in mechanosensitive signaling mechanisms with aging and injury will likely reveal potential targets to promote tissue repair and prevent tissue degeneration and osteoarthritis development. 2) We are developing meniscus tissue engineered constructs that will be utilized to repair and replace meniscus tissue lost due to injury and surgical resection.  3)  We are focusing on the biological and biomechanical changes that occur in the joint following meniscus injury and how these may contribute to osteoarthritis development.   

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology
  • Associate Research Professor of Cell Biology
  • Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

Contact Information

  • Office Location: 355A Msrb1, Durham, NC 27710
  • Office Phone: (919) 684-6882
  • Email Address: alr@duke.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. Duke University, 2005

Courses Taught

  • PATHOL 293: Research Independent Study
  • PATHOL 793: Research Independent Study

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Bradley, PX; Thomas, KN; Kratzer, AL; Robinson, AC; Wittstein, JR; DeFrate, LE; McNulty, AL, The Interplay of Biomechanical and Biological Changes Following Meniscus Injury., Current Rheumatology Reports, vol 25 no. 2 (2023), pp. 35-46 [10.1007/s11926-022-01093-3] [abs].
  • Andress, B; Hoffman, M; McNulty, AL, Analytical validation and quality control/quality assurance practices for improved rigor and reproducibility of biochemical assays in orthopaedic research., J Orthop Res (2022) [10.1002/jor.25498] [abs].
  • Buchanan, MW; Furman, BD; McNulty, AL; Olson, SA, Combination of Lidocaine and IL-1Ra Is Effective at Reducing Degradation of Porcine Cartilage Explants., Am J Sports Med, vol 50 no. 7 (2022), pp. 1997-2006 [10.1177/03635465221090611] [abs].
  • Andress, BD; Irwin, RM; Puranam, I; Hoffman, BD; McNulty, AL, A Tale of Two Loads: Modulation of IL-1 Induced Inflammatory Responses of Meniscal Cells in Two Models of Dynamic Physiologic Loading., Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol 10 (2022) [10.3389/fbioe.2022.837619] [abs].
  • Cutcliffe, HC; Kottamasu, PK; McNulty, AL; Goode, AP; Spritzer, CE; DeFrate, LE, Mechanical metrics may show improved ability to predict osteoarthritis compared to T1rho mapping., J Biomech, vol 129 (2021) [10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110771] [abs].