July 2008 | VOL. 7, NO. 7 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu

July marks the seventh anniversary of the McGowan Institute. I would like to take this opportunity to express thanks and appreciation for the commitment of our team of 230 faculty members who have led the sustained growth and maturation of the Institute. Faculty alone can accomplish little. We are fortunate to be joined by a committed and visionary team of outstanding students, fellows and staff.

While it’s clear that multidisciplinary teams are necessary to progress quickly in our field, few organizations are fortunate enough to have the networked critical mass to achieve vertical integration.  The McGowan Institute—coupled with UPMC and our industry partners—has the reach to advance medical research, clinical assessment, and quality of life for patients.  Put simply, our aim is to save lives, stimulate recruitment of students, engineering faculty, and clinicians, and contribute to the economic recovery of the region.

The past seven years have seen real progress in the field of regenerative medicine. At the start of the Institute, many of the McGowan Institute scientific and clinical teams were excited about the prospects for tissue engineering and cellular therapies. It is interesting to note that the progress that has been made is now creating excitement in wider circles that include military caregivers, clinicians, the public, and the investment community.

Partnerships are an important component of the Institute; more than 60 partnerships have been established with industry, government agencies, and other academic institutions.
Our ability to form these working relationships contributes to progress in the development and delivery of regenerative medicine-based therapies.  The Research and Proof of Concept Partnerships include:

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Seed Funding
• National Tissue Engineering Center (NTEC) *
• Soldier Wound Healing *
• Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM)
• Pfizer
• Funding from the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative

The McGowan Industry Magnet Program seeks to maximize progress toward the next plateau by establishing partnerships between the Institute and industry. Through these partnerships, we will answer the key questions of who will pay for regenerative therapies, how much, and when. In addition to facilitating commercial relationships from start to finish, the program also will establish a full-time regulatory affairs group that will advise our teams on regulatory pathways throughout their research programs.

At the McGowan Institute, our collective commitment remains to advance the sciences related to regenerative therapies, to educate scientists and engineers to pursue technologies related to regenerative medicine, and to lead a generation of clinicians in the implementation of regenerative therapies.

We can all look forward to another exciting year of advances in science and progress in the movement of our emerging technologies to clinical/commercial use. As noted above, our progress is directly attributable to all of the McGowan Team, and next year we will collectively be able to look back and say that we have made more progress along this road that we are traveling together.

Sincerely,

Alan J. Russell, PhD

Tracy Cui, PhD, McGowan faculty member and an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The CAREER Program is an NSF Foundation-wide activity that offers prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. The NSF hopes that these activities build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research

Dr. Cui’s project is titled “Manipulating Stem Cells Via Electroactive Conductive Polymers.” Her award of $390,000 over four years is to study how to control and direct the growth, differentiation and functional integration of stem cells within a tissue.  The project seeks to develop a technology platform that can be used to study material-neural tissue interaction with a specific emphasis on the differentiation of neural stem/progenitor cells. The resultant technology would allow scientists to answer the predominant questions regarding neural stem cell growth and neural tissue regeneration, namely, whether stem cells can become functional cells on an engineered surface and, if so, under what circumstances. 

Dr. Cui’s work also includes an educational component that will bring more impact to the rapidly growing field of neural engineering by promoting the engagement of scientists, engineers, and clinicians; it will work to attract more young talent to the field in order to provide multidisciplinary training and research experience. 

Dr. Cui joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 following an assignment at Unilever as a research scientist working on skin biomaterials and tribology.  She earned her PhD at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2002. 

For more information about this project and others in Dr. Cui’s laboratory, visit the:
NTE Laboratory

J. Peter Rubin, MD, recently announced the launch of a new website devoted to facilitating the development of technology derived from and directed toward adipose tissue. Adipose tissue has been found to be a unique and viable source of cell regeneration. The IFATS informational website, http://www.ifats.org/, is sponsored by the International Federation of Adipose Therapeutics and Science. Among other topics, information can be found on the site about the mission, leadership and sponsorship opportunities available from IFATS as well as opportunities for collaboration among scientists. Registration information for the IFATS08 Conference in Toulouse, France from October 24-26, 2008 is available as well.

Besides being a McGowan faculty member, Dr. Rubin is an assistant professor of surgery at the School of Medicine, co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Adipose Stem Cell Center, director of the Life After Weight Loss clinical program, director of the Adipocyte Biology Laboratory, and co-director of the UPMC Aesthetic Surgery Center.

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Anthony Delitto, PhD, McGowan faculty member and professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, has been awarded the 39th McMillan Lecturer Award from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The award is the highest honor given by the association.  Dr. Delitto’s past honors include being the 2007 recipient of the Lucy Blair Service Award by the APTA.

The APTA is a national professional organization representing more than 66,000 members. Its goal is to foster advancements in physical therapy practice, research, and education. In addition to his duties in Physical Therapy, Dr. Delitto is also director of research at the Comprehensive Spine Center and vice president for education and research at the UPMC Centers for Rehab Services.

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McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Freddie H. Fu, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and founding medical director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for Sports Medicine, has been named the 37th president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) during the Society's Annual Meeting. The AOSSM is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication, and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries.

McGowan Institute faculty and staff extend a gracious welcome to our new External Affairs Coordinator, Kate Lewis. Kate comes to us from the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh where she was coordinator of the annual fund. She will be working closely with Dr. Alan Russell on upcoming projects and events.

The duties of the External Affairs Coordinator will also consist of acting as a liaison to the Medical and Health Sciences Foundation, the UPMC News Bureau, Pennsylvania state officials, and the McGowan Advisory Council.

Welcome, Kate!

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The McGowan Institute welcomes Dawne Hickton and Gail Naughton to the Advisory Council.  Members of the Council aid in the advancement of the Institute’s goals and mission, and we are gratified to have these new members involved.

Dawne Hickton is the Vice Chairman and CEO of RTI International Metal, Inc.   Hickton has been with RTI since 1997 in various roles and stepped into the CEO position in 2007.  Before working at RTI, she served as a corporate attorney at USX Corporation.  She holds a BA from the University of Rochester and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a director of First National Bank Corporation.

Gail Naughton is the head of San Diego State University's College of Business Administration.  Naughton holds over 90 US and foreign patents and has been widely published.  She holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from St. Francis College in New York, a master's degree in Histology, and a PhD in Medical Sciences from New York University.  She also completed post-doctoral training at New York University and earned an executive MBA from UCLA.

The full McGowan Institute Advisory Council is listed here.

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As the McGowan Institute continues to grow, there is a need to ensure that all human resource matters are internally managed in the most efficient manner. To meet this need, Laurie Madeya has been appointed as the Director of Personnel for the Institute.

The McGowan Institute has 230 faculty members housed in 31 different academic departments throughout UPMC and the University. Thirty of these are core faculty in the McGowan Institute; however, all secondary and adjunct appointments are also processed from the internal human resources office. In addition, the Institute has 32 post-doctoral associates and 68 staff members.   

New responsibilities for the Director of Personnel will include management of all Institute human resource related actions such as acquisitions, promotions and separations, payroll management for all staff within the Institute, coordination with the administrative staff in other university departments and schools in reference to faculty appointments, serving as the interface with the Office of International Services to complete the visa process for international personnel, and reviewing and processing all payroll forms related to the appointments and reappointments of post doctoral students as well as faculty secondary and adjunct appointments.

The Director of Personnel will also serve as the Manager of Operations of the two Institute sites (Bridgeside Point and the McGowan Building).  In this capacity, the Director will serve as the supervisor of the core support staff and as the principal liaison with landlord representatives (Bridgeside Point) and Facilities Management (McGowan Building). Responsibilities include coordination of security issues, maintenance, and visitor control.

Dr. Joel Schuman is considered to be one of the nation’s leading authorities on the treatment of glaucoma.  He is a former recipient of the Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize from the New York Academy of Medicine.  He has also been honored as a top doctor in Pittsburgh’s Top Doctors 2007, the Cambridge Who’s Who for 2007, and America’s Top Doctors—The Best in American Medicine, also the 2007 edition.  He received a prestigious Physician’s Recognition Award with Commendation from the American Medical Association (AMA) for 2006-2009.

Dr. Schuman obtained his medical degree from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.  He did his ophthalmology residency at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and completed a two-year clinical fellowship in glaucoma at the Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology in Boston, part of Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Schuman is Eye and Ear Foundation Professor and chairman of Ophthalmology.  He also serves as director of the UPMC Eye Center, and holds secondary appointments as a professor in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and professor, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University.

Prior to his arrival in Pittsburgh, Dr. Schuman was a professor at the Harvard School of Medicine’s Eye and Ear Infirmary followed by an appointment as professor and vice chair at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He also served as director of Glaucoma and Cataract Service at the New England Eye Center, part of the Tufts University Medical Center.

Dr. Schuman’s research interests include imaging of the eye, laser-tissue interactions, aqueous outflow, and clinical pharmacology.  He holds two patents, one relating to optical imaging and the other to a method of glaucoma surgery. 

He is also leading the organization of the Center for Ocular Regeneration and Vision Restoration, a partnership between the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh, the UPMC Health System and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member J. Peter Rubin, MD, co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Adipose Stem Cell Center, recently published data that showed a surgical adhesive, TissuGlu, was effective in preventing the formation of seroma in an animal abdominoplasty model.  Summarized in the paper titled "Lysine-Derived Urethane Surgical Adhesive Prevents Seroma Formation in a Canine Abdominoplasty Model," the results demonstrated that the surgical adhesive successfully prevented the formation of excess serous fluid following surgery. In addition, histologic analysis of tissue samples showed no signs of inflammation or foreign body reaction associated with the adhesive.   

"I am impressed with the experimental data that demonstrate a clear ability of the adhesive to control seroma formation," said Dr. Rubin.  "This adhesive shows strong potential for widespread applications in many surgical specialties."

Seroma formation is a frequent complication of surgery procedures such as abdominoplasty and mastectomy, with complication rates ranging from 15 percent to 52 percent on abdominoplasty alone.

These additional Institute faculty members were co-authors on the study: Drs. Thomas Gilbert, Stephen Badylak, and Eric Beckman.  Dr. Beckman is co-founder of the company that manufactures TissuGlu, Cohera Medical, Inc. Cohera received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant of $1.5 million for continued development of TissuGlu just this month.  The Phase II SBIR grant, awarded by the NIH, will fund work to finalize the pre-clinical testing that will support submission of an Investigational Device Exemption to the Food and Drug Administration for approval to initial human clinical trails.  The human clinical studies are expected to begin in 2009.

Read more…

PRNewswire

Scientists have long wrestled with how to aid those who suffer cartilage damage and loss. One popular way is to inject an artificial gel that can imitate the cartilage’s natural ability to act as the body’s shock absorber. But the gel pads do not always adhere well to the remaining cartilage in the joint, which means that many patients require follow-up injections.

Now Brown University nanotechnology specialist Thomas Webster and his team have found a way to regenerate cartilage naturally by creating a synthetic surface that attracts cartilage-forming cells. These cells are then coaxed to multiply through electrical pulses.

McGowan faculty members Constance Chu, MD and Freddie Fu, MD recently assessed the Brown research results. "The use of nanotechnology in scaffolds to assist with regenerating cartilage is novel and would be of high interest if it can eventually improve the functional properties of the regenerated cartilage," said Dr. Chu.

The Brown team found that the nanotubes, molecular-scale types of graphitic carbon that are among the stiffest and strongest fibers known, work well for stimulating cartilage-forming cells (known scientifically as chondrocytes) due to their unique surface properties. The nanotube’s surface is rough; microscopically, it looks like a bumpy landscape. Yet that uneven surface closely resembles the contours of natural tissue, so cartilage cells see it as a natural environment to colonize.

The Brown researchers also learned they could prod the cartilage cells to grow more densely by applying electrical pulses. Scientists don’t completely understand why electricity seems to trigger cartilage growth, but they think it helps calcium ions enter a cell, and calcium is known to play an integral role in growing cartilage. Also, the nanotubes are great conductors of electrons.

Orthopedic surgeons commend the team’s research, but say it is too early to tell whether the approach will be successful. “Although the idea of creating stronger, better-adhering cartilage sounds good, placing permanent particles such as carbon nanotubes inside the joint may introduce other problems,” said Dr. Fu.  His major concern: carbon nanotubes may not be biologically compatible with existing cartilage tissue in the joint.

Photograph:  Carbon nanotube reinforced cartilage: A cartilage-forming cell (known as a chondrocyte) interacts with carbon nanotube fibers in this image.—Photo credit: Brown University

Read More:

Brown University Media Relations

The Regenerative Medicine Podcasts continue to gain listeners and explore pertinent topics. Remember to tune in and keep abreast of new interviews. The most recent podcasts are:

#52 – Latha Satish, PhD – Dr. Satish, of the Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, visits Regenerative Medicine Today to describe her work in identifying novel genes responsible for scarless wound healing.

#53 - Joel Schuman, MD – Dr. Schuman, director of the UPMC Eye Center, discusses his pioneering research in ocular care and introduces the new program on ocular regeneration at the University of Pittsburgh.

Visit www.regenerativemedicinetoday.com to keep abreast of the new interviews.

Authors:	Velliste, M, Perel S, Spalding MC, Whitford AS, Schwartz AB
Title:	Cortical control of a prosthetic arm for self-feeding
Summary:	Arm movement is well represented in populations of neurons recorded from the motor cortex. Cortical activity patterns have been used in the new field of brain-machine interfaces to show how cursors on computer displays can be moved in two- and three-dimensional space. Although the ability to move a cursor can be useful in its own right, this technology could be applied to restore arm and hand function for amputees and paralysed persons. However, the use of cortical signals to control a multi-jointed prosthetic device for direct real-time interaction with the physical environment ('embodiment') has not been demonstrated. Here we describe a system that permits embodied prosthetic control; we show how monkeys (Macaca mulatta) use their motor cortical activity to control a mechanized arm replica in a self-feeding task. In addition to the three dimensions of movement, the subjects' cortical signals also proportionally controlled a gripper on the end of the arm. Owing to the physical interaction between the monkey, the robotic arm and objects in the workspace, this new task presented a higher level of difficulty than previous virtual (cursor-control) experiments. Apart from an example of simple one-dimensional control, previous experiments have lacked physical interaction even in cases where a robotic arm or hand was included in the control loop, because the subjects did not use it to interact with physical objects-an interaction that cannot be fully simulated. This demonstration of multi-degree-of-freedom embodied prosthetic control paves the way towards the development of dexterous prosthetic devices that could ultimately achieve arm and hand function at a near-natural level.
Source:	Nature. 2008 Jun 19;453(7198):1098-101. Epub2008 May 28.

PIs:	G. Bard Ermentrout, PhD, Beatrice Riviere, PhD, Jonathan Rubin, PhD, David Swigon, PhD, and Ivan Yotov, PhD
Title:	Research Training Group Award
Description:	Will provide resources to develop training programs for mathematics students to work with physicians and biologists to help resolve complicated medical problems through mathematics.  A variety of computer models will be produced based on differential equations to create immune system models to plot the various chemical and physical changes that occur as the body battles influenza, inflammation, sepsis, necrosis, and wounds.  The researchers hope to be able to plot and pinpoint the origin of uncontrollable inflammation and infection that can occur as complications following surgery.
Source:	National Science Foundation ($1.8 million) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences
Term:	09/01/07-09/01/09
Amount:	Total of $2.5 million

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