Anne-Marie Malfait

Anne-Marie Malfait is a Senior Professor at Rush University. Her research focuses on osteoarthritis, chronic pain, and musculoskeletal disorders, with a particular emphasis on the neuro-immune mechanisms driving joint pain and cartilage degeneration. Her recent work includes identifying an overactive neuro-immune signature in human osteoarthritis synovium, demonstrating that FM-dye inhibition of Piezo2 relieves mechanically evoked pain in mouse models, and using CRISPR epigenome editing of IL1R1 to reduce sensitization to osteoarthritic environments. She has also published on the osteochondral junction as a therapeutic target and contributed to Nature Reviews Disease Primers on osteoarthritis. Her research integrates rheumatology, pain research, and orthopaedic surgery, with international collaborations advancing translational pain management strategies.