Regenerative medicine uses clinical procedures to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues and organs, versus some traditional therapies that just treat symptoms.
To realize the vast potential of tissue engineering and other techniques aimed at repairing damaged or diseased tissues and organs, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC established the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The McGowan Institute serves as a single base of operations for the University’s leading scientists and clinical faculty working to develop tissue engineering, cellular therapies, and artificial and biohybrid organ devices.
The McGowan Institute is the most ambitious regenerative program in the nation, coupling biology, clinical science, and engineering. Success in our mission will impact patients’ lives, bring economic benefit, serve to train the next generation of researchers, and advance the expertise of our faculty in the basic sciences, engineering, and clinical sciences. Our efforts proudly build upon the pioneering achievements of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute.
While there are certain select therapies based on regenerative medicine principles now in clinical use, much work lies ahead to realize the potential of this growing field. Advances in the underlying science, engineering strategies to harness this science, and successful commercial activities are all required to bring new therapies to patients.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
450 Technology Drive
Suite 300
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Read information on campus shuttles.
Phone: 412-624-5500
Fax: 412-624-5363
Email: McGowan@pitt.edu
The McGowan Institute sponsors a podcast series on regenerative medicine. Listen to some of the world's leading regenerative medicine researchers and physicians talk about their work.
Listen to the most recent podcasts.
Dr. Chandan Sen and Team to Join the McGowan Institute
Chandan Sen, PhD, MD, will join the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and UPMC this summer. Dr. Sen and his team of more than two dozen faculty, postdoctoral associates, and staff are coming to Pittsburgh from Indiana University. Dr. Sen’s research focuses on developing therapies for chronic wounds, a potentially life-threatening condition that affects millions of people in the U.S. In patients with diabetes, foot ulcers are a common chronic wound with high amputation rates. Sen serves as the special projects chair of the Diabetic Foot Consortium, a multi-center, National Institutes of Health-funded network that aims to improve diabetic wound healing and prevent amputations among the 27 million adults in the U.S. who live with diabetes.
Standing at sea level, the air that surrounds us pushes on our bodies at 14.7 pounds per square inch. If we venture below sea level into the ocean, the pressure increases by 14.7 pounds every 33 feet. With training, technical divers can safely dive to depths of around 330 feet. Other life forms, however, thrive in the high-pressure depths of the ocean. Sperm whales, for instance, hunt giant squids at depths of 7,000 feet or more. McGowan affiliated faculty Anna Balazs, PhD, and Lance A. Davidson, PhD, are part of an interdisciplinary team that will study the biology, chemistry, and evolution of deep-sea life in order to create materials that can withstand the powerful pressures of the ocean. The project, “Bio-Inspired Material Architectures for Deep Sea (BIMADS),” has received a combined $7.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense through its Multidisciplinary Research Initiative, with $2 million allocated to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh.
Collaboration and Partial Liver Transplants Key in Preventing Pediatric Waitlist Deaths
George V. Mazariegos, MD, McGowan affiliated faculty and the Director of the Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, is the lead author of a study published in the July 2023 issue of Liver Transplantation. The article, titled “Center use of technical variant grafts varies widely and impacts pediatric liver transplant waitlist and recipient outcomes in the United States,” assesses the impact of technical variant grafts (TVGs), including living donor and deceased donor split/partial grafts, on waitlist and transplant outcomes for pediatric liver transplant candidates.
Drs. Sanchez, Gerlach, and Noda Awarded R21 Funding
Pablo G. Sanchez, MD, PhD, McGowan affiliated faculty and Chief, Division of Lung Transplant and Lung Failure in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Brack G. Hattler Professor in Cardiothoracic Transplantation, and Jörg C. Gerlach, MD, PhD, Director of the interdisciplinary Biorector Group at the McGowan Institute, are the Principal Investigators (PIs) on a new R21 award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Kentaro Noda, PhD, Research Program Manager of Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh is also part of the project. The project, titled “Incorporating hepatic cell function into lung ex vivo lung perfusion for transplant preservation” spans from April 2023 to January 2025.
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