McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

How Our Research Can Help You

Increasingly smaller and more advanced artificial heart devices, which we help to design and test, sustain many people as they await donor hearts. A collagen "scaffold" helps to heal wounds, tendons, and ligaments by
drawing healthy young cells to the injury site. And patients' own stem cells from their blood, bone marrow, or muscle are used to treat heart failure and urinary incontinence. Find out more about these treatments and new ones on the horizon.

Liver

Artificial Liver

A device that incorporates living liver cells can take over the organ's function, helping to sustain patients as they recover from injury or infection, or await transplantation.

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Cancer

Cancer

We know that stem cells give rise to healthy, new tissues. But what if some stem cells go bad, and give rise to cancerous tissues? We're thinking about new ways to treat cancer that may stop it from ever coming back.

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Diabetes

Dendritic Cells - Diabetes

In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks its own insulin-producing cells. Our challenges are to stop that attack and replace the missing cells.

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Heart and Blood Vessels

Heart & Blood Vessels

In addition to our partnership with the UPMC Artificial Heart Program, we're finding new ways to treat heart failure and grow blood vessels in the lab.

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Nervous System

Neuron Transplants

Cells of the spinal cord and brain don't regrow well on their own once they've been damaged, leading to devastating losses of function. But regenerative medicine is up to the challenge.

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Orthopaedic

Orthopaedic

Injuries to bone, muscle, cartilage, and tendons were some of the first problems addressed by regenerative medicine.

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Face and Jaw

Regenerative Facial Reconstruction

Facial disfigurement from disease or trauma is much more than a cosmetic issue, it's also a quality of life issue. We're working on ways to regrow jaw bones, teeth, and other tissues.

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Lung

Respiratory Assistance - Lung

We're working on new ways to add oxygen to blood that are kinder to airways than traditional ventilators and can be used in the field by combat medical personnel and paramedics.

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Urinary Tract

Urinary Tract

Urinary incontinence is the number two reason why seniors move to long-term care homes. We have a new way to restore control.

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