Yingzi Yang was studying Fibrous Dysplasia (FD), a severe skeletal disease in which benign tumors cause bone deformities, fractures, and pain, when federal funding to Harvard was withdrawn. The research had promise not only for treating FD but also for finding treatments for conditions affecting military personnel, including chronic bone pain and bone fragility. “FD patients and their families had been closely following research advances, hoping for novel, effective interventions," Professor Yang said. "The termination of leading-edge projects like this erodes this hope and sends a discouraging signal to those living with an already-overlooked disease.” FD currently has no cure. It can affect every bone in the body, but the largest subpopulation of those with the disease are affected by FD lesions in their craniofacial bones leading to severe facial deformities. While some work continues at Massachusetts General Hospital, the research based in the Yang Lab, which was critical to pro...