A new multidisciplinary clinical research center (MCRC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, funded by a $5.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, seeks better ways to address the costly public health issue of osteoarthritis (OA). “We know that arthritis is the leading cause of disability among older adults,” said principal investigator Dr. Joanne Jordan, director of University of North Carolina’s Thurston Arthritis Research Center (TARC), and adjunct professor of epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. “With this grant, we plan to create a true multidisciplinary hub for OA and musculoskeletal research here at UNC – one that leverages our research, clinical, education, and training strengths across disciplines to better understand and treat this chronic and often debilitating disease.”