Tour: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Duration: 1 hour
Overview
Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Regenerative medicine use a variety of approaches to address tissue/organ disease including the replacement of tissue function with entirely synthetic devices such as in artificial organs; functional restoration that includes both synthetic and cellular components, such as in biohybrid organs; a combination of temporary scaffolds with cellular components, such as in conventional tissue engineering; and cellular therapies, including those involving adult stem cells and genetically manipulated cells for the repair of damaged tissue and muscle.
What You’ll See:
- The lab of Dr. Stephen Badylak- His team is exploring ways to regrow tissue with extracellular matrix, or ECM, a naturally-occurring material that can be derived from pig bladder and intestine. His work has been featured in various news outlets, including Oprah, Newsweek and the Discovery Channel.
- The lab of Dr. William Wagner – This team is working on novel materials that act as a temporary framework and are gradually replaced by healthy tissue. One such project is the Heart Patch, which would be placed over tissue damaged in a heart attack to provide strength and stretch until functional cardiac tissue could grow in to take its place. With his colleague Dr. David Vorp, Dr. Wagner is working on a technique to seed living cells onto a spinning axis to create replacement blood vessels for procedures such as bypass surgery.
- The lab of Dr. Eric Lagasse- Dr. Lagasse’s team is working on identifying, isolating and characterizing liver stem and progenitor cells with the aim of developing cell-based therapies for liver disease, such as cirrhosis and hepatitis. They also want to identify cancer stem cells, particularly in liver and prostate cancers, as well as markers for those diseases.
- The lab of Dr. Marina Kameneva- Dr. Kameneva’s team is trying to develop artificial organs, including artificial blood.
