Written by Dimitra Micha, member OIFE Scientific Advisory Board

The 26th annual OIF Scientific Meeting in Chicago (April 22-24 2026) welcomes key OI developments from US and Canada scientists and clinicians working on improving health conditions for people with OI. Attendance of more than 100 OI professionals ensures adequate representation of scientific outcomes and clinical findings which can advance developments for meaningful treatments and signal new directions for meaningful research for patient benefit. These objectives were reflected in the meeting’s theme “Research in Osteogenesis Imperfecta: From Basic Science to Treatment”, ably chaired by Dan Cohn, PhD and Maegen Wallace, MD. OIFE was represented at the meeting by Dimitra Micha, PhD, member of OIFE’s advisory board.

Program included state of the art studies

It is wonderful to see the OIF Scientific Meeting, the unmissable annual gathering of researchers, clinicians and patient representatives coming together with the common goal of sharing their knowledge and expertise in this fruitful setting, forming the ground for collaborative efforts and new concepts on OI. The two and half day program featured state of the art studies on bone biology, extraskeletal pathology, mouse models as well as drug trials and medical gaps on this challenging disease. Field-advancing talks were given by renowned experts in the field as well as talented early-career investigators, including a very lively poster session. This year, the meeting was preceded with a talk by Pierre Moffat (Shriners Hospitals for Children, Montreal) in memory of Francis Glorieux and his longstanding commitment to OI. We also had the chance to pick the brain of Matthew Hilton (Duke University School of Medicine, Durham) on his keynote topic about chondrocyte to osteoblast transition during skeletal development. His findings support a transdifferentation process, based on dedifferentiation which hypertrophic chondrocytes may undergo to give rise to osteoprogenitor cells capable of osteoblast generation.

Extraskeletal manifestations

A considerable part of the meeting was focused on extraskeletal OI manifestations; as an important part of OI burden, it was encouraging to see diverse aspects being addressed across the sessions especially with mouse models. Roy Morello (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock) reported proteomic and mitochondrial changes in skeletal muscles of Crtap-/- mice and Alessandra Carriero (City College of New York, New York) talked about normal hearing in the oim mouse model, a model of severe OI with ossicle abnormalities. Findings from the lab of Debora Krakow (UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles) highlighted a chronic inflammation phenotype and immune cell dysregulation in the lungs of Aga2 mice for moderate OI which may point to new intervention targets for detrimental pulmonary complications in OI.

Developments in bone biology

Exciting developments were also noted at the bone biology forefront, particularly centering around non-unions and the periosteum in skeletal OI defects. From the clinical perspective, Jeanne Franzone (Nemours Children’s Hospital, Wilmington) and Jill Flanagan (Children’s Physician Group, Atlanta) stressed related orthopedic challenges in OI whereas Dongsu Park (Baylor College of Medicine) elaborated on properties of periosteal stem cells which may provide mechanistic insights in OI bone quality. The implications of periosteum on fracture repair were also the research topic of Madhura Nijsure (MaineHealth Institute for Research, Scarborough) who identified transcriptional patterns mediating periosteal progenitor cell regulation.

Translational character

In line with the translational character of the meeting, Cathleen Raggio (Hospital for Special Surgery, New York) presented a study about the use of C-Type Natriuretic Peptide (CNP) analog as a combined treatment with a bisphosphonate as a new therapeutic modality in OI. This showed positive bone quality outcomes in mice with severe OI. This treatment is expected to be meaningful in OI patients who are shown to have a deficiency in CNP, a hormone regulating bone growth. In this session about mouse models, I was delighted to introduce our hiOI mouse model for mild OI; our current investigations are focusing on extraskeletal features which are not yet studied in mild OI mice. We believe that this mouse model will help to attract attention to the large but neglected mild OI population. We also look forward to findings about the bone fragility mouse model in development by the lab of Ronit Marom (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston).

Standards of care and transition

The last day of the meeting, an expert panel discussion followed the session about standard of care and pediatric to adult transition in OI. Eric Orwoll (Oregon Health and Science University) reviewed the gaps surrounding the standards of care with implementation of key outcomes and metrics, including patient values, and data requirements for well-founded guidelines. Laura Tosi (Children’s National Hospital, Washington) talked about “the elephant in the room” as the need to acknowledge the growing requirements for effective transition for people with OI and other rare disorders. Considering the global appeal of these fundamental topics, and similar initiatives on European level, the discussion was well-oriented and timely.

Update from the BBDC

Such a prominent OI meeting would not be complete without an update about the Brittle Bone Disorders Consortium (BBDC) from Brendan Lee (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston). The consortium is a momentous undertaking, aiming to investigate evolution of OI over time through natural history studies and biomarker identification towards mechanistic insights in genotype-phenotype interrogations. With many clinical collaborating sites, major OI breakthroughs are expected the coming years.

Updates on Clinical Trials

In addition to updates on clinical trials by AMGEN, BOOST BioPharma and Angitia Biopharmaceuticals, the work of Sachin Chaugule and Jae Hyuck Shim deserves attention (University of Massachusetts Medical School) for standing out in gene therapy development. OI is such a challenging disease and we need everyone and diverse approaches to make sure we can offer the best improvements to OI people.

Thank you for the opportunity!

On a personal note, I am excited for the opportunity to attend the OIF Scientific Meeting, an event that rightfully owns a place on the agenda of anyone striving to make a difference for people with OI. As a first time attendee, this was a captivating and eye-opening experience. The success of the meeting lies not only on the latest scientific and clinical developments but also on the constructive discussions and diverse angles of the numerous specialists.  The meeting is guaranteed to bring you up to date with the latest OI developments and give you enough inspiration to take back home.

My sincere thanks to OIFE and OIF that made this trip possible, to Tracy Hart and the OIF board for the warm welcome and everyone I met for the sparkling conversations and contributions to a very informative and enjoyable program.