The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine held its inaugural “Regenerative Medicine Summer School” the week of July 13, 2014. The Summer School week, endorsed by the Society for Biomaterials and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), was initiated and led by McGowan Institute faculty member Bryan Brown, PhD, Research Assistant Professor with the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh with a secondary appointment in Pitt’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. Dr. Brown is also the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Scholar (NIH K12), Magee Women’s Research Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.
The Summer School week aimed at providing both international and regional undergraduate students with a hands-on learning program in regenerative medicine. The students interacted through lectures and laboratory activities with the world-class faculty members of the McGowan Institute and participated in networking and career building activities. This is the first regenerative medicine-focused summer program in the United States that is focused on undergraduates. The program is open to all undergraduates but targets students at universities where they may not be exposed to bioengineering and regenerative medicine with a goal of recruiting top students from these universities into the field. This year’s class consisted of 20 students from across the United States and internationally, many of whom come from backgrounds considered to be under-represented in the field of regenerative medicine.
Many McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members and students participated in this very successful educational initiative, including (in alphabetical order):
Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, Professor, Department of Surgery, Deputy Director, McGowan Institute: A Biologic Scaffold Approach to Regenerative Medicine
Harvey Borovetz, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, the Robert L. Hardesty Professor of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, and the Deputy Director-Medical Devices, McGowan Institute: Present and Future Considerations of Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices for Pediatric Heart Failure Patients
Bryan Brown, PhD: Regenerative Medicine “Big Picture” Introduction and Immunology at the Intersection of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine
Aaron Deward, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, Lagasse Lab: Using the Lymph Node as a Site for Organ Regeneration
Andrew Duncan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Graduate Faculty, Program in Cellular and Molecular Pathology, and University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Molecular and Cellular Cancer Biology Program: Chromosome Variations in Liver Regeneration and Disease
Denver Faulk, Graduate Student Researcher, Badylak Lab: Whole Organ Tissue Engineering
William Federspiel, PhD, Director, Medical Devices Laboratory, McGowan Institute, Professor of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering and Critical Care Medicine: Respiratory Dialysis: The New Wave in Extracorporeal CO2 Removal (ECCO2R)
Paulo Fontes, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Director of the Machine Perfusion Program, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute: Machine Perfusion & the Ex-Vivo World for Organ Preservation
Jörg Gerlach, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering: Supporting Skin Wound Regeneration with Emphasis on Autologous Skin Stem Cells
Mitra Lavasani, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh: Prospects for Adult Stem Cell Therapies
Kacey Marra, PhD, Director of the Plastic Surgery Laboratory, Co-Director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center, Associate Professor, Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh: Adipose Tissue Engineering
John Murphy, Executive Director, McGowan Institute, and Research Professor, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh: McGowan Institute Overview
Salim Olia, Graduate Student Researcher, Hemorheology, Hemodynamics and
Artificial Blood Research Laboratory (Kameneva Lab): Introduction to Mechanical Circulatory Support: Running Between the Bench and Bedside
Julie Phillippi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh: Regenerative Medicine Themes in Aortic Pathology
Frank Pokrywka, CIH, Industrial Hygienist, Environmental Health and Safety, University of Pittsburgh: Lab Orientation/Chemical Hygiene Training
Rocky Tuan, PhD, Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Executive Vice Chairman for Orthopaedic Research at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Associate Director of the McGowan Institute: Orthopaedics and Regenerative Medicine
Yoram Vodovotz, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery, Departments of Computational & Systems Biology, Bioengineering, Immunology, Department of Communication Science and Disorders (of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Science), and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute: Translational Systems Biology of Inflammation
William Wagner, PhD, Director of the McGowan Institute, Professor of Surgery, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh: Approaching Materials Design Challenges in Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering
Students toured the laboratories of Drs. Wagner, Badylak, Brown, and Thomas Gleason. In addition, they experienced an introduction to the Artificial Heart Program (Douglas Lohmann and colleagues, host) and the Center for Biological Imaging (Donna Stolz, PhD, host). The students also enjoyed an evening at Kennywood Park. See pictures of the program on the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Summer School Facebook Page.
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McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine 2014 Announcement