Dr. Graciosa Teixeira

Dr. Graciosa Quelhas Teixeira is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics (Director: Prof. Dr. Anita Ignatius). Graciosa has worked on various interdisciplinary projects to elucidate the pathomechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration, inflammation and complement activation. Additionally, she is currently focused on better understanding how aging and degeneration affect the structure and function of the human meniscus and how to target it.

Intervertebral disc degeneration and osteoarthritis are leading global causes of musculoskeletal disability, with considerable productivity loss and high healthcare costs. The disc and meniscus share similarities in cellular metabolism and matrix homeostasis in health and disease. Because no effective therapeutic approach has been proposed to restore these structures once degenerated, it is urgent to clarify key degeneration and inflammation mechanisms, their association with injury and/or aging, and to target them towards repair/regeneration. are being developed for musculoskeletal diseases. Graciosa’s previous work showed, ex vivo, that mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies have a positive impact on disc regeneration and that the mechanism-of-action of these cells is mostly dependent on the immunomodulatory effect of the secreted factors. Therefore, she is working on the development of approaches based on biomaterials and/or extracellular vesicles produced by mesenchymal stem cells to counteract disc and meniscus degeneration. To answer different research questions, she is developing ex vivo (using human tissues) and in vivo (e.g., mouse) models, combining biochemical factors and mechanical stimulation, for more robust translational research.

Graciosa is funded by the DFG and has received funding from the Hertha-Nathorff and the Baustein programs of Ulm University.