Newsletter - Regenerative Medicine at the McGowan Institute

Newsletter | May 2020

May 2020 | VOL. 19, NO. 5| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

McGowan-Developed Technology Helps COVID-19 Patients

A respiratory dialysis system that employs technologies developed at the McGowan Institute Medical Devices Lab has been used to treat 16 COVID-19 patients, in conjunction with non-invasive or mechanical ventilation. The core technology developed at the Medical Devices Lab, was licensed to the spinout ALung Technologies, and ALung has designed and produced a clinically viable device, which is called the Hemolung® Respiratory Assist System (RAS). Read More

Newsletter | April 2020

April 2020 | VOL. 19, NO. 4| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Medical Devices Lab Technology May Help COVID-19 Patients

Under the direction of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member William Federspiel, PhD, the William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, the Institute’s Medical Devices Laboratory is developing clinically significant devices for the treatment of pulmonary and other cardiovascular ailments by utilizing the engineering principles of fluid flow and mass transfer. Read More

Newsletter | March 2020

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2020 | Comments are Closed | 31 March, 2020 | 0

March 2020 | VOL. 19, NO. 3| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

DARPA Awards $22M for ‘Smart’ Device that Regenerates Muscle

A multi-institution research team led by the University of Pittsburgh secured a $22 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a device combining artificial intelligence, bioelectronics and regenerative medicine to regrow muscle tissue, especially after combat injuries. Read More

Newsletter | February 2020

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2020 | Comments are Closed | 28 February, 2020 | 0

February 2020 | VOL. 19, NO. 2| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. George Gittes’ Diabetes Gene Therapy Licensed to Genprex, Inc. Phase I Clinical Trial Next Step

Genprex, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company announced that it signed an exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for a diabetes gene therapy that may have the potential to cure Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, which together currently affect approximately 30.3 million people in the U.S, or 9 percent of the U.S. population. Read More

Newsletter | January 2020

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2020 | Comments are Closed | 31 January, 2020 | 0

January 2020 | VOL. 19, NO. 1| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Researchers Regrow Damaged Nerves with Polymer and Protein

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers have created a biodegradable nerve guide — a polymer tube — filled with growth-promoting protein that can regenerate long sections of damaged nerves, without the need for transplanting stem cells or a donor nerve. Read More

Newsletter | December 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 20 December, 2019 | 0

December 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 12| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Dr. Stephen Badylak at TEDx Fairfield University

With its theme of Inspiration and Innovation, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, hosted a recent TEDx on October 28, 2019. Read More

Newsletter | November 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 26 November, 2019 | 0

November 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 11| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Pitt Team’s Replacement Heart Valve Could Decrease Need for Pediatric Surgeries

Garrett Coyan, MD, sees many patients each week, from children to the elderly, to check on their replacement heart valves. Read More

Newsletter | October 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 22 October, 2019 | 0

October 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 10| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

The State of Cell-Based Therapies for Arthritis and Osteoporosis

A new report highlights the latest advances in cell-based therapies for the treatment of disorders of the musculoskeletal system, such as arthritis and osteoporosis, and it identifies key unanswered questions that should be addressed through ongoing research. The report is published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and concurrently in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, and was issued by a joint Task Force of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the Orthopaedic Research Society. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Rocky Tuan, PhD, Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the former Associate Director of the McGowan Institute, is the co-chair of the Task Force. Read More

Newsletter | September 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 30 September, 2019 | 0

September 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 09| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. Eric Lagasse’s Work Highlighted in Forbes

As reported by Forbes contributor Robin Seaton Jefferson, LyGenesis, Inc., hopes to enter human trials in 2020 on a therapy that could potentially give patients with end stage liver disease hope for new livers without having to wait on donated organs. The technology, developed through research from McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh and LyGenesis’ Chief Scientific Officer, uses lymph nodes as bioreactors to regrow functioning organs within a patient’s own body. The research found that a variety of different cells types and tissues, including the liver, could engraft and actually grow within lymph nodes. The company is working on injecting cadaver cells into lymph nodes to grow secondary livers. Read More

Newsletter | August 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 28 August, 2019 | 0

August 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 08| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

New Alliance with the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory

The McGowan Institute has formed an alliance with the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory to develop and demonstrate the how micro-gravity can improve regenerative medicine-based therapies. The ISS provides a unique platform to conduct studies in a microgravity environment. Read More

Newsletter | July 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 31 July, 2019 | 0

July 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 07| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Dr. Stephen Badylak to Receive BioMed SA’s 2019 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Deputy Director Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, a nationally recognized pioneer in stem cell and tissue regeneration, will receive BioMed SA’s 2019 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience in San Antonio, Texas, September 19, 2019. Read More

Newsletter | June 2019

By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Newsletter, Newsletter 2019 | Comments are Closed | 28 June, 2019 | 0

June 2019 | VOL. 18, NO. 06| www.McGowan.pitt.edu

Preventive Drug Therapy May Increase Right-Sided Heart Failure Risk in Patients Who Receive Heart Devices

Patients with left-sided heart failure who get implanted devices to improve the pumping of their hearts may be more likely to develop heart failure on the opposite side of their hearts if they are pre-treated with off-label selective vasodilator drugs, according to new research published in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Deputy Director Robert Kormos, MD, FAHA, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, past director of UPMC’s Artificial Heart Program, and the Brack G. Hattler Chair of Cardiothoracic Transplantation, is a co-author on this study. Read More