Newsletter - Regenerative Medicine at the McGowan Institute

Newsletter | April 2022

Drs. Kacey Marra (top) and Eric Lagasse

April 2022 | VOL. 21, NO. 4| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Drs. Kacey Marra and Eric Lagasse Recognized During Pitt’s Celebration of Innovation

The University of Pittsburgh Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship presented its 2022 Celebration of Innovation on April 21, 2022. This event recognized the achievements of Pitt faculty and student innovators who are seeking to improve people’s lives through the commercialization of their ideas and discoveries. In addition to recognizing all faculty and students who submitted an invention disclosure, were issued a U.S. patent, or had their innovation licensed, there were seven special awards presented. The efforts of two McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty members were recognized among these special awards. Read More

Newsletter | March 2022

March 2022 | VOL. 21, NO. 3| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. David Kaczorowski on Xenotransplantation

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member David Kaczorowski, MD, Surgical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Center of UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute and an Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, was a member of the surgical team on the historic first successful transplant of a porcine heart into an adult human with end-stage heart disease. As a follow-up to this extraordinary accomplishment by the surgical team, Dr. Kaczorowski published an article entitled, “Organs from genetically engineered pigs may help shorten the transplant wait list,” in The Conversation. The article focuses on the history of xenotransplantion, or transplanting animal organs into human beings. The article is repeated here: Read More

Newsletter | February 2022

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2022 | Comments are Closed | 28 February, 2022 | 0

February 2022 | VOL. 21, NO. 2| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

New Peer-Reviewed Publication Expanding Liver Regeneration Technology

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh and a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of LyGenesis, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cell therapies for patients with end stage liver disease, Type 1 diabetes, end stage renal disease, single enzyme deficiencies, and aging. Read More

Newsletter | January 2022

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2022 | Comments are Closed | 28 January, 2022 | 0

January 2022 | VOL. 21, NO. 1| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. David Kaczorowski Member of Surgical Team on Historic First Successful Transplant of Porcine Heart into Adult Human with End-Stage Heart Disease

In a first-of-its-kind surgery, a 57-year-old patient with terminal heart disease received a successful transplant of a genetically modified pig heart and is still doing well three days later. It was the only currently available option for the patient. The historic surgery was conducted by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), together known as the University of Maryland Medicine. Bartley P. Griffith, MD (pictured middle), surgically transplanted the pig heart into the patient. Read More

Newsletter | December 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 14 December, 2021 | 0

December 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 12| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Study Identifies Factor in ‘Young Blood’ That Helps Rejuvenate Aged Mouse Muscle

As we age, our muscles gradually become smaller, weaker, and less able to heal after injury. In a new study, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC researchers pinpoint an important mediator of youthfulness in mouse muscle, a discovery that could advance muscle regeneration therapies for older people. Read More

Newsletter | November 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 24 November, 2021 | 0

November 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 11| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Hemolung Respiratory Assist System Receives FDA De Novo Clearance

ALung Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of low-flow extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) technologies for treating patients with acute respiratory failure, announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company De Novo clearance for the Hemolung Respiratory Assist System. This system was developed at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine by a team of researchers led by faculty member William Federspiel, PhD, the company’s cofounder and professor of bioengineering, chemical engineering, critical care medicine, and the Clinical Translation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Federspiel is also the director of the Medical Devices Laboratory at the McGowan Institute. Read More

Newsletter | October 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021, Uncategorized | Comments are Closed | 29 October, 2021 | 0

October 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 10| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Novel Gene Therapy Platform Speeds Search for Ways to Cure Blindness

A novel computational platform developed by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine identifies top-performing viral vectors that could deliver gene therapies to the retina with maximum efficiency and precision. Read More

Newsletter | September 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 30 September, 2021 | 0

September 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 9| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. Fabrisia Ambrosio Named a 2021 Women of Influence Award Winner

Presented by the Pittsburgh Business Times, the 2021 Women of Influence Awards honor the region’s most influential businesswomen at for-profit companies, nonprofits, and government entities. This year, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Fabrisia Ambrosio, PhD, MPT, is one of the 25 women being honored as Women of Influence. The awardees are women who were effective in their communities, blazed a trail for others, and are leaving an indelible mark on business in Greater Pittsburgh. This year’s presentation event will take place on October 6, 2021. Read More

Newsletter | August 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 30 August, 2021 | 0

August 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 8| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

ISSRDC Highlights Opportunities Within Biomanufacturing in Space

The 2021 International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) featured a fireside chat on biomanufacturing in space. Gary Rodrigue, MBA, director of programs and partnerships at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), moderated a discussion with William Wagner, PhD, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The discussion focused on the value of space-based biomanufacturing and the critical role of the orbiting laboratory in advancing this research area. Read More

Newsletter | July 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 30 July, 2021 | 0

July 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 7| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Pitt-UPMC Scientists Are Inventing mRNA Vaccine to Cure Liver Failure

Today, the only cure for end-stage liver disease is an organ transplant – an expensive treatment, and the demand for which outweighs the supply. Nearly 12,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a liver as of July 2021. Read More

Newsletter | June 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 30 June, 2021 | 0

June 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 6| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Injection of Light-Sensitive Proteins Restores Blind Man’s Vision

After 40 years of blindness, a 58-year-old man can once again see images and moving objects, thanks to an injection of light-sensitive proteins into his retina. Read More

Newsletter | May 2021

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2021 | Comments are Closed | 25 May, 2021 | 0

May 2021 | VOL. 20, NO. 5| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Serving Those Who Serve

The third Saturday in May marks National Armed Forces Day. Here are some In the News articles which detail the ways in which the research of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members supports members of the military community: Read More