The Center for Preclinical Studies is a premier Testing Facility serving the biomedical research community in the advancement of novel and translational medical technologies from exploratory R&D through to translational and late-stage testing.

Established in 1994 at the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute, the Center maintains a team of experienced personnel providing academic researchers and Industry Partners complete study management support from careful planning, compliance, study development, application investigational materials/devices, in-life data collection and management through to post-study evaluation and archiving.

The Center resides in the heart of the University of Pitt & UPMC Medical Centers providing accessibility and the opportunity to engage with scientific, clinical , surgical, and bioengineering expertise to address the most challenging therapeutic solutions:

Basic/Exploratory and Translational Research

The Center’s maintains an expansive profile of established expertise supporting the following research areas:

  • Cardiovascular Research
    • Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices (Adult and Pediatric)
    • Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADS, RVADs) Implanted & extracorporeal
    • Total Artificial Heart (TAH)
      • Structural
      • Heart Valves, Stents, Cannulae, Grafts
  • Respiratory Support
    • ECMO
    • Respiratory Dialysis
  • Obstetric-Fetal
    • In utero Devices
    • Surrogate Model Development
  • Organ Perfusion Systems
    • Organ preservation & Recovery- Machine Perfusion
    • REBOA
  • Hemoglobin Based Oxygen Carriers/HBOC
  • Tissue & Cellular Regenerative Therapeutics
    • Bioscaffolds
    • Stem Cell

The CPCS has a 30-year history of supporting medical technology innovators by providing a platform for in-vivo testing for a variety of technologies ensuring carefully planned, well-controlled, well-documented research activities. The CPCS commitment to quality and continual process improvement results in high degree of overall data integrity resulting in successful study outcomes.

In addition to preclinical testing support, the CPCS has been established as an Industry Training Center accessed for Pre-trial Surgeon Qualification, Formative/Summative End User Assessment, and post-marketing training.

Areas supported by the CPCS include:

  • Medical Devices
    • Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, machine perfusion and organ recovery, Obstetrics, etc.
  • Industry
  • Training, Formative and Summative Usability Assessment Platform
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Organ Transplantation
  • Cellular Therapeutics