Congratulations, Drs. Wagner and Marra!
The Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) recently announced the election results for their governing board. William R. Wagner, PhD, has been selected as the chair-elect of the North American Chapter of TERMIS. Dr. Wagner is the director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and professor in the Departments of Surgery, Bioengineering, and Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Congratulations are also extended to Kacey Marra, PhD, who was elected to the TERMIS North American Council. Dr. Marra is associate professor, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, director of the Plastic Surgery Laboratory, as well as co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center.
McGowan Institute faculty members have served and continue to provide leadership to TERMIS:
- Alan J. Russell, PhD, was the founding TERMIS president, the global society that serves as the parent organization for the three TERMIS Continental Chapters (Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America). Dr. Russell is the founding director of the McGowan Institute, and currently the Highmark Distinguished Professor in the Institute for Complex and Engineered Systems, Carnegie Mellon University.
- The current TERMIS president is Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD. Dr. Badylak is professor, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, deputy director, McGowan Institute, and director, Preclinical Studies, McGowan Institute.
- Serving on the TERMIS North American Council is Rocky S. Tuan, PhD, associate director of the McGowan Institute and director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He also serves as the executive vice chairman for orthopaedic research at the University of Pittsburgh.
TERMIS brings together the international community of persons engaged or interested in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and promotes education and research within the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine through regular meetings, publications, and other forms of communication. The Society also serves as an international forum to promote the informed discussion of challenges and therapeutic benefits of the application of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine technologies. There are currently 4,000 members of TERMIS.
The Society is committed to bringing together key professionals to support a mutual understanding of the field and to accelerate research in the field and to contributions to the ultimate care of patients. To affect this interchange of information, the Society has endorsed the journal, Tissue Engineering, as its official publication. The TERMIS World Congress Meeting is held every 3 years (2012 TERMIS World Congress – Vienna, Austria – September 5-8, 2012). In the interim years, the Continental Chapters host annual meetings to promote tissue engineering and regenerative medicine research regionally.