Dr. Franceschi holds a BA degree (Zoology) from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Purdue University. After completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Hector DeLuca at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he joined the faculty at the Harvard University School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry (1981-1988). He subsequently held Associate Professor positions at the University of Texas Dental Branch (1989-1992) and the University of Michigan Schools of Dentistry and Medicine (1993-2000). He is currently the Marcus L. Ward Collegiate Professor of Dentistry, Professor of Biological Chemistry and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. At the School of Dentistry, he served as Director of Research (1998-2000) and Associate Dean for Research (2002-2005). Other service positions include President of the IADR Mineralized Tissues Group (2000-2002), President of the Association for Osteobiology (2010-14) and service on a number of NIH Review Panels including Chair of the Skeletal Biology, Structure and Regeneration Study Section (2005-2007). Editorial Board positions include the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and Journal of Dental Research. He has also been a peer reviewer for most first-tier biomedical research journals including Nature, Cell, PNAS, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Research in the Franceschi laboratory is focused on the study of signals regulating bone and joint formation with particular emphasis on roles of mechanical loading and extracellular matrix interactions. Ongoing studies are investigating transcriptional mechanisms controlling development of bone and marrow fat, the temporomandibular joint and intervertebral discs. His group is also actively involved in the development of gene therapy approaches to stimulate bone and blood vessel regeneration through the controlled expression of regenerative factors. He has published more than 130 papers and been continuously funded by the NIH for the past 35 years. He was the 2008 winner of the Distinguished Scientist Award for Basic Research in Biological Mineralization presented by the International Association for Dental Research.