Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in the News

Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, is used to hearing his work described as science fiction.  

Way back in 1999, he and his team grew bladders in a lab and successfully implanted them in patients with spina bifida. Then in 2004, his team grew urethras for five boys in Mexico City. Eight years later, the laboratory-grown tissue looks as natural as the boys' own.

Today, scientists are growing more than 30 types of tissues and organs at the Wake Forest Institute in Winston-Salem, N.C. The hard work of growing vital organs "is a major challenge," Atala says. Although his lab has already grown a set of lungs, so far they're only experimental. "It should be only a matter of time before we create solid organs" such as livers and hearts, he says.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers are also testing a spray-on skin that could greatly reduce the way skin grafts are collected for burn patients.  Read more.

Lab-Grown Anal Sphincters

Researchers have built the first functional anal sphincters in the lab, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle and nerve cells, the sphincters developed a blood supply and maintained function when implanted in mice. The results are reported in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

“In essence, we have built a replacement sphincter that we hope can one day benefit human patients. This is the first bioengineered sphincter made with both muscle and nerve cells, making it ‘pre-wired’ for placement in the body,” said senior author Khalil N. Bitar, Ph.D., a professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Read more.

World's First Tissued Engineered Urethras Deemed A Success

First bladders, now urethras. A research team form the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine built engineered urethras (urinary tubes) for five boys using their own cells. After six years , all five boys are doing well and functioning normally. The alternative would have been an artificial graft with a 50% chance of failure or a lifetime of urinary tract infections and incontinence issues.

Dr. Anthony Atala remarked " This is an example of how the strategies of tissue engineering can be applied to multiple tissues and organs."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12666171http://

Tengion reports program with implants; may expand clinical trial

Tengion Inc. said that it has made enough progress with the patient implants of its most promising regenerative medicine development to consider expanding its clinical trial. The company is developing a neo-urinary conduit to help patients with a bladder disorder or disease to divert urine through the use of their own cells.

Read more here.

From Bladders to Bowels... Newsweek Notes the Potential of Regenerative Medicine

In "The Race to Grow New Organs" Newsweek magazine talks about recent progress in the field growing new organs and mentions Anthony Atala and Wake Forest's Insitute of Regenerative Medicine.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/07/future-of-medicine-growing-new-organs.html

Wake Forest gets $2.2 million DOD grant

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense worth $2.24 million to study the use of keratin gel in the regeneration of damaged nerves in the hands, arms and feet.

The gel was invented at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at WFUBMC, and has been shown to promote the growth of severed nerves. The gel is a biomaterial derived from human hair.

Read more here.

Dr. McConnell Shared WFUBMC Goals at Chamber Annual Meeting

From the Winston-Salem Journal:
Dr. John McConnell, the chief executive of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, spread his message to a larger audience yesterday that the system is at a crossroads.

McConnell spoke at the 125th annual meeting of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. He gave a similar presentation in February.

Wake Forest Baptist is playing an increasingly large role in the local economic transition. It is Forsyth County’s largest employer, with about 11,800 employees overall, and is the driving force behind the build-out of Piedmont Triad Research Park.

Read the rest of the article, including the names of the winners for both the Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award and the Cook Medical Innovation Award, here.

WFIRM Mentioned in Today's WS Journal

There is a nice article about Dr. Atala and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in today's Winston-Salem Journal. An excerpt from the article:
"The 2010-11 state budget passed last weekend includes $10 million for the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which involves several partners around the country, including the Wake Forest institute. The armed-forces effort focuses on creating new tissue and organs for wounded soldiers."
Click here to read the story.