The long-term goals of Dr. Lei Wei’s lab are to understand the mechanism of cartilage development to cartilage degeneration. Research areas of interest include 1) growth plate development regulated mainly by HDAC4 and Ihh; 2) Cartilage damage including Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatism arthritis (RA); 3) Role of inflammation during post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). The goal of my lab is to develop a novel therapy for OA and RA treatment. Techniques used in my lab include cell culture, western blot, RT-PCR, Microscopy, FMT, Gait analysis, and X-ray et al. in vitro and in vivo imaging.