Early clinical investigators often face many hurdles to launch their scientific careers, including independent funding opportunities, time constraints and data management. For Indiana University School of Medicine musculoskeletal oncology surgeon-scientist Christopher Collier, MD, his career track recently received a significant boost through a research career development award from the National Institutes of Health.
Collier aims to advance musculoskeletal oncology through an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that combines bench-to-bedside research, clinical care and education. His work addresses the critical needs of patients with rare and complex cancers such as sarcomas and metastatic bone disease, and the systemic effects of cancer and cancer treatment on the musculoskeletal system. He is among a rare class of academic orthopaedic surgeons who have obtained the resources needed to explore new approaches to improve the health of his patients.
“My vision is to establish Indiana University as a globally recognized center of excellence in musculoskeletal oncology,” said Collier, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and section chief of musculoskeletal oncology. “This vision includes advancing translational science through NIH-funded research, developing novel therapeutic approaches for cancer-related conditions and creating comprehensive education programs that train the next generation of leaders in this field.”
Collier received the Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, known as a K08 grant, from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at the NIH.
Making history and growing orthopaedic research
This is the first K08 awarded to a young investigator in the history of the IU Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at a time when just one in 20 academic orthopaedic surgeons have obtained NIH funding.
Collier's research will contribute to the ongoing musculoskeletal research taking place at IU and across Indiana via its global research and development musculoskeletal hub, Indiana Musculoskeletal Health Partnership for the Advancement of Care and Treatment, specifically in kidney cancer.
His research focuses on muscle loss after cancer spreads to the bone and takes place at the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health at the IU School of Medicine. Muscle wasting and body composition changes are a side effect of cancer called cachexia. The condition is responsible for 20 to 40% of cancer-related deaths and greatly reduces quality of life for people living with cancer. The grant Collier received will enable him to have half of his professional time protected to focus on his research through a nearly $1 million grant over five years, which will support his development toward running his own lab as a principal investigator and applying for a Research Project R01 award from the NIH in the future.
“Our lab focuses on the intersection of musculoskeletal health and cancer, with the goal to drive translational discoveries that improve the lives of our cancer patients,” Collier said.
Through the K08 award, Collier seeks to further understand how metastatic bone disease contributes to cachexia in kidney cancer and identify key mediators. He hypothesizes metastatic bone disease among those who have kidney cancer promotes systemic muscle wasting and bone loss by IL-6 mediated activation of an intracellular signaling pathway, called JAK/STAT3, in the muscle. He will test this theory in both preclinical models and tissues collected from patients with kidney tumors and metastatic bone disease to compare outcomes.
Collier’s mentor, Ed Greenfield, PhD, professor of orthopaedic surgery at the IU School of Medicine, describes Collier as “unique,” in that very few academic orthopaedic surgeons in the United States are NIH-funded, and said that he is well on his way to becoming “the classical triple-threat: a top-flight scientist, educator and clinician.”
“I have had the privilege of watching Dr. Collier’s development from a bright, inquisitive orthopaedic resident into a dedicated, independently funded surgeon-scientist with a clear and ambitious vision for his research career,” said Greenfield, who started collaborating with Collier at Case Western Reserve University. “Dr. Collier’s research in bone metastases and IL-6 signaling in cancer cachexia urgently needs more investigation and is one that aligns directly with his patients.”
“Dr. Collier is an unusually gifted educator and surgeon and is already developing into a leader in our field,” added Greenfield.
Early success
Along with Collier’s research in cachexia, he has contributed to therapeutic advancements in osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer, working alongside Greenfield. Together, they have expanded research in drug repurposing to develop and test novel therapeutics. Collier has contributed to several publications in fractures, metastatic bone disease, including metastatic pediatric and adolescent and young adult solid tumors, which impacts individuals diagnosed with cancer between ages 15 to 39.
In 2023, Collier won first place for the Young Investigator Award by the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, and last spring he received the IU Trustees’ Teaching Award, which recognizes faculty excellence in teaching.
Through his involvement in the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Research Committee and the Sarcoma Foundation of America Research Priority Working Group, he founded the Multicenter Orthopaedic Tumor Research group (MORTaR), a multi-institutional collaborative research group that includes researchers from Vanderbilt University, Duke University, Ohio State University, Cleveland Clinic and Moffitt Cancer Center. Together, they will identify gaps in musculoskeletal oncology, launch studies and report their findings.
Outside the lab, Collier specializes in the surgical management of benign and malignant bone and soft tissue tumors in children and adults at both Riley Children’s Health and the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Since joining IU School of Medicine in 2020, Collier has successfully leveraged multidisciplinary collaboration both in research and clinical delivery,” said Dan Wurtz, MD, chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the IU School of Medicine. “Through his efforts, our musculoskeletal oncology research program and our clinical presence continue to grow and become a national leader in translational science and innovative care.”
