Yearly Archives: 2013

Improving the Therapeutic Relevance of Muscle Stem Cells

As reported by the Stem Cell correspondent Stuart P. Atkinson, the research group of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Johnny Huard, PhD (pictured top), professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery, Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, and Pathology, the Henry J. Mankin endowed chair in orthopaedic surgery research, and the director of the Stem Cell Research Center, has previously isolated and characterized muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) which have been shown by various groups by being able to undergo osteogenic differentiation given the correct stimuli.  They are therefore a potential alternative to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for bone tissue engineering.   One of these stimuli is continued exposure to bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), hindered by the short half-lives in vivo and the requirement of maintaining a localized concentration.   The team, including McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Yadong Wang, PhD (pictured bottom), the William Kepler Whiteford professor in bioengineering with adjunct positions in chemical engineering and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, has also devised a delivery strategy;  a poly(ethylene argininylaspartate diglyceride)(PEAD)-heparin complex loaded with BMP2 which forms an emulsion-like aggregation of organic molecules separated from the aqueous phase, or a coacervate, previously used to effectively deliver fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) for therapeutic angiogenesis.   Now, in a report in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, they report on the use of this system with BMP2 to stimulate osteogenesis in MDSCs in vitro and in vivo. Read More

The Wiegand Summer Internship provides an opportunity for a high school senior, who resides in Allegheny County and who graduated in the spring of 2013, to spend 4 weeks learning first-hand about regenerative medicine research and scientific investigations in general. Read More

Risk of Dementia Doubles for Elderly Patients Hospitalized with Infections

University of Pittsburgh researchers, including McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Derek Angus, MD, distinguished professor of critical care medicine and the Mitchell P. Fink chair in critical care medicine in Pitt’s School of Medicine, found that elderly patients who were hospitalized with infections, such as pneumonia, were more than twice more likely to develop dementia than those who did not have an infection.  The study also found that patients with dementia may be more susceptible to infection.  The results of the study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Read More

Drs. Angus, Bahar, and Perlmutter Named Pitt Distinguished Professors

The University of Pittsburgh has awarded the title of Distinguished Professor to three McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members.  The new Distinguished Professors are: Derek C. Angus, Distinguished Professor of Critical Care Medicine; Ivet Bahar, Distinguished Professor of Computational and Systems Biology; and David H. Perlmutter, Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics. Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Sanjeev Shroff, PhD (pictured top), distinguished professor and Gerald E. McGinnis chair of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, has been named chair of the Department of Bioengineering, effective September 1, 2013.  He succeeds McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Harvey Borovetz, PhD (pictured bottom), distinguished professor of bioengineering, who decided to step down in April 2013 after an 11-year tenure as chair. Dr. Borovetz will continue to be a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering. Dr. Shroff is the third chair of the Department of Bioengineering, which was founded in 1998. Read More

Decellularized Mouse Heart Beats Again after Regeneration with Human Heart Precursor Cells

A Pittsburgh-based team, that includes two McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members, has reported that they have performed a study where  a mouse heart was able to contract and beat again after its own cells were stripped and replaced with human heart precursor cells.  The McGowan Institute affiliated faculty members who were contributors to the study are Kimimasa Tobita, MD, research assistant, professor of developmental biology, pediatrics, and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and a director of Rangos Research Center Animal Imaging Core, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and Guy Salama, PhD, professor within the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, along with scientists from Pitt School of Medicine. The findings, reported online in Nature Communications, show the promise that regenerating a functional organ by placing human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells – which could be personalized for the recipient – in a three-dimensional scaffold could have for transplantation, drug testing models, and understanding heart development. Read More

Dr. Rory Cooper Awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the U.S. Army

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Rory Cooper, PhD, has been awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the U.S. Army for his extraordinary contributions to veterans by leveraging science, clinical research, and advanced engineering technology to improve the mobility of wounded and disabled veterans.  The award was presented by the commander of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Read More

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute International Academy Scholars Present Projects

Fifty-six students from around the world participated as scholars in this summer’s University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) International Academy, a program designed to let students work directly with researchers in basic, translational, and clinical research experiential programs to develop, nurture, and support their interest and aptitude in pursuing careers in biomedicine and cancer. On the final day of the program, students presented findings about the work they did this summer. Read More

Fighting infection post-surgery with an antibiotic gel, developing a meniscus implant for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) patients, and attacking skin cancer with a microneedle bandage were three of the latest four innovative medical technologies selected for funding through the Wallace H. Coulter Translational Research Partners II (TPII) Program (Coulter Program) this year at the University of Pittsburgh. Read More

Not only does practice make perfect, it also makes for more efficient generation of neuronal activity in the primary motor cortex, the area of the brain that plans and executes movement, according to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Peter Strick, PhD, and researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published online in Nature Neuroscience, showed that practice leads to decreased metabolic activity for internally generated movements, but not for visually guided motor tasks, and suggest the motor cortex is “plastic” and a potential site for the storage of motor skills. Read More

Project Coordinator Neill Turner

Co Investigator Michel Modo

Title Studies to Evaluate the Effect of Processing Methods upon UBM-ECM Read More

Some animals—like the octopus and cuttlefish—transform their shape based on environment, fending off attackers or threats in the wild. For decades, researchers have worked toward mimicking similar biological responses in non-living organisms, as it would have significant implications in the medical arena. Read More

Artificial Cells to Study Effects of Molecular Crowding on Gene Expression Developed

The interior of a living cell is a crowded place, with proteins and other macromolecules packed tightly together. A team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), including McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Philip LeDuc, PhD, CMU professor of mechanical engineering and biological sciences, has approximated this molecular crowding in an artificial cellular system and found that tight quarters help the process of gene expression, especially when other conditions are less than ideal. Read More

Premature Aging of Immune Cells Present in Joints of Kids with Chronic Arthritis

The joints of children with the most common form of chronic inflammatory arthritis contain immune cells that resemble those of 90-year-olds, according to a new study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published recently in Arthritis and Rheumatism, suggest that innovative treatment approaches could aim to prevent premature aging of immune cells. Read More

NIH Grant to Study Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injuries Received

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers have been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead a $16.5 million international study to evaluate treatments for pediatric traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Read More

Dr. William Wagner to Receive 2013 Senior Scientist Award from TERMIS-AM

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine director William Wagner, PhD, will receive the 2013 Senior Scientist Award during the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS-AM) conference November 2013 in Atlanta.
Dr. Wagner is also professor of surgery, bioengineering, and chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of one of the field’s leading journals, Acta Biomaterialia. Dr. Wagner is widely recognized as a tremendous colleague, researcher, and outstanding scholar. Selected by the TERMIS-Americas Awards Committee, the Senior Scientist Award is based on an individual’s significant contributions to the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field. Individuals nominated for the Senior Scientist Award must have received their terminal degree 10 years or greater from the time of the award, be actively contributing to the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field, and their contributions as a body of work should be well recognized within the community.
Dr. Wagner is most deserving of this honor. Congratulations, Dr. Wagner! Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Members Receive Project Funding for Early Stage Medical Technology R&D Read More

Artificial Cells to Study Effects of Molecular Crowding on Gene Expression Developed

The interior of a living cell is a crowded place, with proteins and other macromolecules packed tightly together. A team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)—including McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Philip LeDuc, PhD, professor of biological sciences and chemistry at CMU­­—has approximated this molecular crowding in an artificial cellular system and found that tight quarters help the process of gene expression, especially when other conditions are less than ideal. Read More

Jack Hughston Award  Received by Dr. Freddie Fu

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Freddie Fu, MD, and Carola Van Eck, MD, PhD, an orthopaedic resident from The Netherlands who came to UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh to learn from Dr. Fu and other sports-medicine experts, are part of a research team presented in Chicago with the prestigious Jack Hughston Award for the outstanding sports-medicine paper of 2012 published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Read More

Placental Cells May Prevent Viruses from Passing from Mother to Baby

Cells of the placenta may have a unique ability to prevent viruses from crossing from an expectant mother to her growing baby and can transfer that trait to other kinds of cells, according to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Donna Stolz, PhD, associate director of the Center for Biologic Imaging and associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh, and researchers at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shed new light on the workings of the placenta and could point to new approaches to combat viral infections during pregnancy. Read More

July 2013 | VOL. 12, NO. 7 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. William Wagner to Receive 2013 Senior Scientist Award from TERMIS-AM

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine director William Wagner, PhD is the recipient of the 2013 Senior Scientist Award presented by the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS-AM). Read More

Dendritic Cell Therapy Improves Kidney Transplant Survival in Preclinical Model

A single systemic dose of special immune cells prevented rejection for almost 4 months in a preclinical animal model of kidney transplantation, according to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members (pictured top to bottom) Read More

UPMC Invests $30 Million in Pediatric Research Programs at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Anne M. Robertson, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, was 1 of 19 women faculty selected to participate in ELATE at Drexel®, a collaborative project of Drexel University and Drexel University College of Medicine. Now in its second year, ELATE at Drexel is a national leadership development program designed to advance senior women faculty in academic engineering, computer science, and related fields into effective institutional leadership roles within their schools and universities. Read More

Eleven years ago, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Ron Shapiro, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and the Robert J. Corry chair in transplantation surgery at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, performed life-changing kidney transplant surgery on patient, Darian DeLuca of Westmoreland County.  This year, Ms. DeLuca graduated from Kiski Area High School and when she received her diploma, she took a little part of her uncle, Greg George, with her.  Mr. George was her kidney donor for this life-changing living-donor surgery. Read More

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded Qrono Inc. a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant for $256,000 to improve the treatment options for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and fund further development of the company’s predictive modeling technology for the design of long-acting injectable (LAI) drug formulations. The research will be conducted in collaboration with The Little Lab at the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Has a Strong Presence at ASAIO Annual Conference

The American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) hosted the 59th Annual Conference in Chicago June 12 – 15, 2013. The Conference attracted over 600 attendees with a broad range of interests. This Conference included presentations from up to 350 speakers from more than a dozen countries.  McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members and their representative PhD candidates presented many technical papers.  Faculty members represented included (in alphabetical order): Read More

Title Evaluation of MatriStem as a Vascular Patch for Treatment of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Description: Commercially available UBM device will be used for aortic reconstruction to improve outcomes and avoid complications of the currently used material in the Norwood Procedure. Read More

Co-PI Norm Ducharme

Title An Exploratory Study into the Practical Application of a Regenerative Medicine Approach to Reconstruction of the Equine Upper Airway Read More

June 2013 | VOL. 12, NO. 6 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu

NIH Grant to Improve Treatment of Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration Received

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded Qrono Inc. a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant for $256,000 to improve the treatment options for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and fund further development of the company’s predictive modeling technology for the design of long-acting injectable (LAI) drug formulations. The research will be conducted in collaboration with The Little Lab at the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Read More

Recently, the efforts of several McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members were the subject of news highlighting their most recent endeavors, achievements, and honors.  Congratulations are extended to each of them.  A brief summary of them (in alphabetical order) and their accomplishments follows: Read More

In a paper presented at the American Transplant Congress, Seattle, WA (May 20, 2013), McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Paulo Fontes, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, described the ground breaking results from a study conducted by a multidisciplinary team who designed and assessed the effectiveness of a system to oxygenate harvested livers with a perfusion system so that the condition of the liver can be maintained for an extended period before implantation. Read More

Adding Breast Milk Ingredient to Formula Could Prevent Deadly Intestinal Problem in Premature Babies

An ingredient that naturally occurs in breast milk might be used to prevent premature babies from developing a deadly intestinal condition that currently is largely incurable, according to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members David Hackam, MD, PhD, Watson Family Professor of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-director of the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and Timothy Billiar, MD, George Vance Foster Professor and Chair in the Department of Surgery, and a deputy director in the Molecular Medicine Institute, and researchers at Pitt’s School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More

Research Fellow from the Steven Little Lab Highlighted by ARVO

Morgan Fedorchak, PhD (pictured), postdoctoral fellow, OTERO (Ocular Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Ophthalmology) Program, Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration, and researcher in the laboratory of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Steven Little, PhD, chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, associate professor, and Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellow of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, recently participated in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting.  Following the meeting, ARVO highlighted Dr. Fedorchak’s work on its website in the area of new treatment approaches for glaucoma. Read More

Co-PI Dr. Mark Fleming; Ian Valerio, MD; Benjamin Potter, MD; Jorg Gerlach, MD, PhD; Michael Boninger, MD Read More

Study Finds Late-Life Depression Associated with Increased Risk for Dementia

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Mary Amanda Dew, PhD, professor of psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh and the director of Clinical Epidemiology Program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, is the co-author of a new meta-analysis published recently in the British Journal of Psychiatry which concludes that late-life depression is associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and, most predominantly, vascular dementia. Read More

May 2013 | VOL. 12, NO. 5 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Progress Reported in Organ Preservation

In a paper presented at the American Transplant Congress, Seattle, WA (May 20, 2013), McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Paulo Fontes, MD, associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, described the ground breaking results from a study conducted by a multidisciplinary team who designed and assessed the effectiveness of a system to oxygenate harvested livers with a perfusion system so that the condition of the liver can be maintained for an extended period before implantation. Read More

The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine applauds its affiliated faculty members who were recently recognized by Pittsburgh Magazine. Each year the magazine commissions Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. to select top doctors on the national and regional levels. The physician-led research team identifies highly skilled, exceptional doctors by evaluating their medical education, training, and hospital appointments, and by surveying area hospital leaders and physicians. Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Lance Davidson, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, has been awarded a 2013 Innovation in Education Excellence Award from the University of Pittsburgh Office of the Provost for the project entitled, “Assessing the Flip: Reengineering a Large Lecture Course in Bioengineering.” Read More

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Receives the 2013 Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award for Brain Repair Read More