McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine is a medical research institute which is a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine is 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. The McGowan Institute supports the development and commercialization of technologies in regenerative medicine and thereby accelerates the translation of research discoveries to clinical implementation and patient benefit.^[1]

History

In 1992, the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development^[2] was established through a gift from William G. McGowan, founder and chairman of MCI Communications. Mr. McGowan experienced a heart attack in 1986, resulting in his receiving a heart transplant in 1987, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. While convalescing, Mr. McGowan engaged his restless, entrepreneurial mind with all he could learn about medical research. Ever the visionary, Mr. McGowan believed that artificial organs could alleviate the shortage of donor organs and perhaps provide permanent alternatives to organ transplantation. In 1990, William and Sue Gin McGowan donated $1 million to fund a like-minded center. The McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development was established in 1992.^[3]

McGowan Institute Headquarters Building.

The twin revolutions in cellular therapies and tissue engineering began to shape the idea that, ultimately, regrowing the patient's own tissues to replace those lost to disease or trauma is an achievable — and preferable — goal. When the theme of the McGowan Center expanded to include "biohybrid" organs (those that combine artificial and natural components), tissue engineering, and cellular therapies, it was renamed the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. McGowan Institute currently works on tissue and organ insufficiency through tissue engineering, cell-based therapies, and medical devices and artificial organs, with an emphasis on translating the research findings of McGowan Institute affiliated faculty into clinical use.

External links

• McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

References