Overview
Virginia Byers Kraus, MD, PhD, is the Mary Bernheim Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Pathology and a faculty member of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute in the Duke University School of Medicine. She is a practicing Rheumatologist with over 30 years’ experience in translational musculoskeletal research focusing on osteoarthritis, the most common of all arthritides. She trained at Brown University (ScB 1979), Duke University (MD 1982, PhD 1993) and the Duke University School of Medicine (Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Rheumatology). Her career has focused on elucidating osteoarthritis pathogenesis and translational research into the discovery and validation of biomarkers for early osteoarthritis detection, prediction of progression, monitoring of disease status, and facilitation of therapeutic developments. She is co-PI of the Foundation for NIH Biomarkers Consortium Osteoarthritis project. Trained as a molecular biologist and a Rheumatologist, she endeavors to study disease from bedside to bench.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Corrigendum to “The PIKASO trial (Preventing Injured Knees from Osteoarthritis: Severity Outcomes): Rationale and design features for a randomized controlled trial” [Osteoarthr Cartil Open 7 (2025) 100563] (Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open (2025) 7(1), (S2665913124001304), (10.1016/j.ocarto.2024.100563))
Journal Article Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open · December 1, 2025 The authors regret that we inadvertently did not list the authors with PIKASO Team corporate authorship. These authors have now been appropriately included. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. ... Full text CiteBiochemical biomarkers of knee osteoarthritis progression: Results from the FNIH biomarkers consortium progress OA study.
Journal Article Osteoarthr Cartil Open · December 2025 OBJECTIVE: The Foundation for National Institutes of Health (FNIH) OA Biomarkers Consortium aims to identify and qualify biomarkers to support drug development in knee osteoarthritis (OA). The PROGRESS OA study aims to externally validate prognostic biomar ... Full text Link to item CiteDampened inflammation and reduced risk of osteoarthritis among non-industrialized societies.
Journal Article Osteoarthritis Cartilage · October 8, 2025 OBJECTIVES: Anthropological research suggests that people in non-industrialized societies (hunter-gatherers, subsistence farmers, pastoralists) are at lower risk of osteoarthritis than people in industrialized societies. Here, we propose that this may be d ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Investigating Senolytic Properties in Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Metformin in COPD Exacerbations (INSPIRE-COPD-E).
ResearchAdvisor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2030Biomarkers to Advance Clinical Phenotypes of Low Back Pain (BACk)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases · 2023 - 2028Biopsychosocial Influence on Shoulder Pain
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases · 2023 - 2028View All Grants