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Anthony Atala, M.D., chairman and professor of urology and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is one of 65 new members named to the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Atala is one of only two physicians in North Carolina named to the most recent class of the IOM, which is a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. As an independent, nonprofit organization, the IOM works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public.
Atala led a team of researchers/physicians who were the first in the world to build replacement organs (bladders) in the lab and implant them in patients. This year, his team announced long-term success implanting lab-built replacement urine tubes in five boys. Researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine are working to engineer replacement organs and develop cell therapies for more than 30 areas of the body.
More.