Jörg Gerlach, M.D., Ph.D., recognized for his innovative work on biohybrid liver design has joined the McGowan Institute. Dr. Gerlach has been appointed as a professor in the Department of Surgery. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, he conducted his innovative research program at Humboldt University in Berlin. Dr. Gerlach was also the director of research for experimental surgery in the Surgical Clinic Charité in Berlin and was a founder of the Charité Institute for Transplantation and Organ Regeneration.
Dr. Gerlach’s research focus is on building bioreactor systems that combine synthetic components with human cells to create support therapies that can help to boost the patient’s own healing process by allowing the affected organ to rest and recuperate. The underlying premise is that an organ system can be functionally relieved or “unloaded” to facilitate this natural healing.
Photo: Jörg Gerlach and colleagues Wolfgang Mudra and Andreas Gruenwald at the McGowan Institute.