U01AR082121
Cooperative Agreement
Overview
Grant Description
The Osteoarthritis Prevention Study (TOPS) - Project Summary / Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA), the leading cause of disability among adults, is without a cure and is associated with significant comorbidities. OA ranks as the third most common diagnosis for hospital inpatient stays with 1.25 M per year, with the knee the most commonly affected weight-bearing joint.
We address knee OA disease prevention in adult females because prevention of OA is preferable to treatment, females are affected at nearly twice the rate as males, and to date interventions designed to slow or stop knee OA progression have failed.
Dietary weight loss, with and without exercise, has level 1 evidence of effective treatment for adults with knee OA and overweight and obesity. Reduced degenerative cartilage changes are also associated with weight loss, making it a possible preventive therapy for people at risk for knee OA.
The objective of this phase III, multi-site (Boston, MA, Chapel Hill, NC, Broward County, FL, Sydney, Australia, and Winston-Salem, NC) randomized clinical trial is to establish the efficacy of an intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance for knee OA prevention. We will establish efficacy in structural, symptomatic, and mechanistic outcomes compared to attention control, and determine the cost-effectiveness of this non-pharmacologic, non-surgical intervention in preventing incident knee OA in adult females aged = 50 years with obesity and no or infrequent knee pain, a cohort at high risk for knee OA.
Participants will be 1,230 ambulatory, community dwelling females with obesity (BMI = 30 kg/m2), and aged = 50 years. Structural and symptomatic eligibility will be determined at the individual knee level. The eligible knee will have no radiographic (Kellgren Lawrence (KL) score = 1) and no MRI knee OA with no or infrequent knee pain (< 15 days/month) in the same knee.
The primary aim is to compare the effects of a 48-month intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance to an attention control group in preventing the development of structural (MRI) knee OA using the MRI OA Knee Score (MOAKS). Secondary aims will determine the intervention effects on the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS total), KOOS pain, mobility (6 minute walk distance), and health-related quality of life (SF-36). Mechanistic secondary outcomes include knee joint compressive forces as a measure of joint loading, IL-6 as an inflammatory measure, and weight loss and exercise self-efficacy. We will also establish the cost-effectiveness of this intervention.
This study is significant in that it will test a critically needed primary prevention intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance for females at risk for knee OA.
Osteoarthritis (OA), the leading cause of disability among adults, is without a cure and is associated with significant comorbidities. OA ranks as the third most common diagnosis for hospital inpatient stays with 1.25 M per year, with the knee the most commonly affected weight-bearing joint.
We address knee OA disease prevention in adult females because prevention of OA is preferable to treatment, females are affected at nearly twice the rate as males, and to date interventions designed to slow or stop knee OA progression have failed.
Dietary weight loss, with and without exercise, has level 1 evidence of effective treatment for adults with knee OA and overweight and obesity. Reduced degenerative cartilage changes are also associated with weight loss, making it a possible preventive therapy for people at risk for knee OA.
The objective of this phase III, multi-site (Boston, MA, Chapel Hill, NC, Broward County, FL, Sydney, Australia, and Winston-Salem, NC) randomized clinical trial is to establish the efficacy of an intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance for knee OA prevention. We will establish efficacy in structural, symptomatic, and mechanistic outcomes compared to attention control, and determine the cost-effectiveness of this non-pharmacologic, non-surgical intervention in preventing incident knee OA in adult females aged = 50 years with obesity and no or infrequent knee pain, a cohort at high risk for knee OA.
Participants will be 1,230 ambulatory, community dwelling females with obesity (BMI = 30 kg/m2), and aged = 50 years. Structural and symptomatic eligibility will be determined at the individual knee level. The eligible knee will have no radiographic (Kellgren Lawrence (KL) score = 1) and no MRI knee OA with no or infrequent knee pain (< 15 days/month) in the same knee.
The primary aim is to compare the effects of a 48-month intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance to an attention control group in preventing the development of structural (MRI) knee OA using the MRI OA Knee Score (MOAKS). Secondary aims will determine the intervention effects on the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS total), KOOS pain, mobility (6 minute walk distance), and health-related quality of life (SF-36). Mechanistic secondary outcomes include knee joint compressive forces as a measure of joint loading, IL-6 as an inflammatory measure, and weight loss and exercise self-efficacy. We will also establish the cost-effectiveness of this intervention.
This study is significant in that it will test a critically needed primary prevention intervention of dietary weight loss, exercise, and weight-loss maintenance for females at risk for knee OA.
Awardee
Funding Goals
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES (NIAMS) MISSION IS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO THE CAUSES, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES, TRAINING OF BASIC AND CLINICAL SCIENTISTS TO CARRY OUT THIS RESEARCH, AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON RESEARCH PROGRESS IN THESE DISEASES. THE EXTRAMURAL PROGRAM PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL STUDIES OF SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, AND JOINT BIOLOGY AND DISEASES AND ORTHOPAEDICS. NIAMS SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES PROGRAMS ADDRESS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, INCLUDING CLINICAL TRIALS AND OBSERVATIONAL AND MECHANISTIC STUDIES, FOCUSED ON IMMUNE-MEDIATED ARTHRITIS AND AUTOIMMUNE-RELATED ACUTE AND CHRONIC DISORDERS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN. NIAMS SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH IN SKIN, INCLUDING BOTH COMMON AND RARE SKIN DISEASES. THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE BASIC MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF SKIN, AS WELL AS STUDIES OF SKIN AS AN IMMUNE, SENSORY, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC ORGAN. NIAMS BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT RESEARCH ON THE CONTROL OF BONE FORMATION, RESORPTION, AND MINERALIZATION AS WELL AS THE EFFECTS OF SIGNALING MOLECULES ON BONE CELLS. THEY SUPPORT CLINICAL STUDIES OF INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT FRACTURES ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS AND RESEARCH INTO LESS COMMON BONE DISEASES. NIAMS MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE RESEARCH ON MUSCLE DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, GROWTH, MAINTENANCE, AND HYPERTROPHY, PHYSIOLOGY OF CONTRACTION, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY OF THE CONTRACTILE APPARATUS, DISEASE MECHANISMS, BIOMARKERS AND OUTCOME MEASURES, AND DEVELOPMENT AND CLINICAL TESTING OF THERAPIES FOR CONDITIONS INCLUDING THE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES. NIAMS JOINT BIOLOGY, DISEASES, AND ORTHOPAEDICS PROGRAMS SUPPORT A BROAD SPECTRUM OF RESEARCH CENTERED ON THE INTERPLAY AMONG THE BODY'S MUSCLES, BONES, AND CONNECTIVE TISSUES. THEY ENCOURAGE TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, IMAGING, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, AND THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF ORTHOPAEDIC CONDITIONS. NIAMS PARTICIPATES IN THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) AND SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAMS. THE SBIR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE STTR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Place of Performance
Winston Salem,
North Carolina
271096000
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 2493% from $300,000 to $7,779,027.
Wake Forest University was awarded
Preventing Knee OA in Adult Females: TOPS Study
Cooperative Agreement U01AR082121
worth $7,779,027
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in August 2023 with work to be completed primarily in Winston Salem North Carolina United States.
The grant
has a duration of 5 years and
was awarded through assistance program 93.310 Trans-NIH Research Support.
The Cooperative Agreement was awarded through grant opportunity NIAMS Clinical Trial Implementation Cooperative Agreement (U01 Clinical Trial Required).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 8/6/25
Period of Performance
8/10/23
Start Date
7/31/28
End Date
Funding Split
$7.8M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$7.8M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Subgrant Awards
Disclosed subgrants for U01AR082121
Transaction History
Modifications to U01AR082121
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
U01AR082121
SAI Number
U01AR082121-4075438599
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Private Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
75NB00 NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Funding Office
75NA00 NIH OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Awardee UEI
MBU6HCLNZ431
Awardee CAGE
0V3S1
Performance District
NC-10
Senators
Thom Tillis
Ted Budd
Ted Budd
Budget Funding
Federal Account | Budget Subfunction | Object Class | Total | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|---|
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0888) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $2,250,332 | 68% |
Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0846) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $650,000 | 20% |
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institute of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0896) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $300,000 | 9% |
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services (075-0948) | Health care services | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $100,000 | 3% |
Modified: 8/6/25