Programs of McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development incorporated into new institute
PITTSBURGH, July 5 To realize the vast potential of tissue engineering and other techniques aimed at repairing damaged or diseased tissues and organs, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Health System have established the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM). As an entity, the MIRM will serve as a single base of operations for the university's leading scientists and clinical faculty working to develop tissue engineering, cellular therapies, biosurgery and artificial and biohybrid organ devices.
It is expected that the new institute will devise innovative clinical protocols as well as pursue rapid commercial transfer of its technologies related to regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that approaches the repair or replacement of tissues and organs by incorporating the use of cells, genes or other biological building blocks along with bioengineered materials and technologies.
The new institute takes its name from the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development, which under its current guise, will cease to exist. Its faculty and programs will be incorporated into the MIRM, and with the MIRM's expanded role and mission, other university faculty will join forces as well. These include researchers working in tissue engineering, adult-derived stem cell research and wound healing, among others.
The MIRM will be directed by Alan J. Russell, Ph.D., who is currently the Nikolas DeCecco professor and chairman of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, and associate director of the university's Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Dr. Russell is internationally renowned for his research on biomaterials and bioengineering and holds a number of patents. He is executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engin
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Contact: Lisa Rossi
rossiL@msx.upmc.edu
412-647-3555
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
5-Jul-2001