Faculty

Aaron Fields, PhD

Aaron Fields, PhD

Associate Professor
Parnassus Heights - Fields Lab
 
Parnassus Heights
 

Publications

Awards Honors

  • Best Basic Science Poster Award
    2019
    Best Basic Science Poster Award, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, 2019
    International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine
  • Young Investigator Research Grant Award
    2018
    Young Investigator Research Grant Award, North American Spine Society, 2018
    North American Spine Society
  • Spine Section Podium Award
    2017
    Spine Section Podium Award, Orthopaedic Research Society, 2017
    Orthopaedic Research Society
  • Young Investigator Research Grant Award
    2016
    Young Investigator Research Grant Award, North American Spine Society, 2016
    North American Spine Society
  • Editor's pick, June 2015: Fields et al. "Alterations in intervertebral disc composition..."
    2015
    Editor's pick, June 2015: Fields et al. "Alterations in intervertebral disc composition...", Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2015
    Journal of Orthopaedic Research
  • Young Investigator Initiative
    2015
    Young Investigator Initiative, U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative, 2015
    U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative
  • Young Investigator Travel Award
    2013
    Young Investigator Travel Award, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, 2013
    American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
  • Cover image, October 2012: Fields et al. "Vertebral fragility and structural redundancy"
    2012
    Cover image, October 2012: Fields et al. "Vertebral fragility and structural redundancy", Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2012
    Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
  • Young Investigator Award
    2011
    Young Investigator Award, Philadelphia Spine Research Society, 2011
    Philadelphia Spine Research Society
  • Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award
    2011
    Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award, University of California, San Francisco, 2011
    University of California, San Francisco
  • Young Investigator Travel Award
    2007
    Young Investigator Travel Award, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, 2007
    American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
  • ISSLS Prize in Bioengineering Science
    2023
    ISSLS Prize in Bioengineering Science, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, 2023
    International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine

Grants & Awards

  • Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine
    2019-07-01 - 2024-06-30
    NIH P30AR075055
    Role: Co-Investigator
  • UCSF Core Center for Patient-centric Mechanistic Phenotyping in Chronic Low Back Pain
    2019-09-25 - 2024-05-31
    NIH U19AR076737
    Role: Co-Investigator
  • Role of the gut microbiome in the progression of vertebral endplate bone marrow lesions (Modic changes) in chronic low back pain
    2021-05-01 - 2022-04-30
    UCSF Core Center for Patient-centric Mechanistic Phenotyping in Chronic Low Back Pain
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Role of the cartilage endplate in spinal disc degeneration
    2017-04-01 - 2022-01-31
    NIH R01AR070198
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Novel imaging of endplate biomarkers in chronic low back pain
    2019-09-26 - 2021-08-31
    NIH UH2AR076719
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Enhancing cartilage endplate permeability to improve disc nutrition
    2020-07-01 - 2021-06-30
    UCSF School of Medicine
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Phenotypes of pathologic vertebral endplate degeneration
    2013-08-01 - 2020-08-31
    NIH R56AR063705
    Role: Co-Investigator
  • Does enhancing cartilage endplate permeability improve nucleus pulposus cell function?
    2019-01-01 - 2019-12-31
    North American Spine Society
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Does Cartilage Endplate Permeability Impact Nucleus Pulposus Cell Function?
    2017-01-01 - 2017-12-31
    North American Spine Society
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Measurement of the effect of cartilage endplate permeability on disc cell function using in situ hybridization
    2016-06-01 - 2017-05-31
    UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology in Medicine
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Enhancing endplate permeability to treat or prevent intervertebral disc degeneration
    2015-10-01 - 2016-09-30
    UCSF Center for Disruptive Musculoskeletal Innovation
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Cartilage endplate composition and disc degeneration: investigating nutrient diffusion and disc cell viability
    2015-07-01 - 2016-06-30
    UCSF School of Medicine
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Endplate dysfunction and disc degeneration: investigating solute transport, disc cell viability and new imaging methods
    2015-04-03 - 2016-06-30
    UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology in Medicine
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • Novel imaging of endplate biomarkers in chronic low back pain
    2019-09-26 - 2024-08-31
    NIH UH3AR076719
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • UCSF Musculoskeletal Training Program
    2023-04-01 - 2028-03-31
    NIH T32AR080618
    Role: Program Director

Education

University of California 2019
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of California, San Francisco 2013
PhD University of California, Berkeley 2010
BS University of Denver 2005

About Aaron Fields, PhD

Aaron Fields, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Denver in 2005, and his Masters and Doctoral degrees, also in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008 and 2010. His undergraduate research was on the use of probabilistic techniques to evaluate knee implant performance, and both of his graduate thesis projects focused on discovering the mechanisms of vertebral fragility using high-resolution computational models. Aaron was appointed to a faculty position at UCSF after completing his post-doctoral fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery in 2015. His background includes extensive research in experimental and computational biomechanics. Aaron is an active member of the Orthopaedic Research Society and the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine.

Aaron currently directs the Orthopaedic Biomechanics and Biotransport Laboratory at UCSF. The lab's broad research interests are related to structure-function relationships in musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular focus on the mechanisms of nutrient transport in bone and cartilage and harnessing nutrient transport for tissue repair and regeneration. The lab combines engineering and biology approaches for (1) understanding the effects of aging and disease on structure-transport relationships and (2) developing translatable diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. An overall theme of this research is the use of advanced experimental and computational tools to measure how tissue constituents at the nano- and microscales impact whole-organ behavior.

Current projects:

1. diagnostic tools for assessing endplate permeability and therapies for enhancing endplate permeability

2. role of lacunar-canalicular system permeability in osteonecrosis of the femoral head

3. nanoscale and microscale contributions to diabetic skeletal fragility

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