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 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have 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, biosurgery and artificial and biohybrid organ devices.
The Institute mission includes the development of innovative clinical protocols as well as the pursuit of rapid commercial transfer of its technologies related to regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that approaches the repair or replacement of tissues and organs by incorporating the use of cells, genes or other biological building blocks along with bioengineered materials and technologies.
The McGowan Institute Director is Alan J. Russell, Ph.D., who until accepting this assignment served as the Nikolas DeCecco Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative.
The Institute takes its name from the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development, which has been incorporated into the McGowan Institute. Through the McGowan Institute's expanded role and mission, other university faculty have joined forces to address promising opportunities in tissue engineering, adult-derived stem cell research and wound healing.
The Institute's Mission Statement is:
To provide a national center of expertise in regenerative medicine focused on developing and delivering therapies that reestablish tissue and organ function impaired by disease, trauma or congenital abnormalities.
To foster the generation of scientific knowledge in regenerative medicine and to share that knowledge with researchers, clinicians and the public through educational activities, training and publications.
To educate and train scientists and engineers to pursue technologies related to regenerative medicine, and train a generation of clinicians in the implementation of regenerative therapies.
To support the commercialization of technologies in regenerative medicine and thereby accelerate the translation of research discoveries to clinical implementation and patient benefit.
The McGowan Institute is named after the late William G. McGowan, who as chief executive officer at MCI Communications underwent a successful heart transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 1987. See News for more details.