Xu Cao PhD

Dr. Xu Cao is a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His research focuses on the role of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in bone remodeling, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Dr. Cao is the Lee Riley Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and serves as the director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

In researching osteoarthritis, his lab discovered that the bone underneath the cartilage plays a key role in the disease, and that blocking the action of a bone protein in mice halts its progression.

His team is currently researching the mechanism of coupling bone resorption and formation, MSCs in subchondral bone remodeling and osteoarthritis and the role of Smad1 in osteoblast differentiation of MSCs.

Dr. Cao earned his Ph.D. in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of South Carolina. He completed postdoctoral training in bone biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Cao joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2009.