Both of the topics, “Tissue Engineering” and “Regenerative Medicine” nowadays become the most prevailing and promising research areas around the world, which are believed as one of the main themes in biomedical research and development with a view to enhancing the quality of life for the global citizens.
Dr. Dai Fei Elmer KER, from Stanford University, U.S.A., and Dr. Lu HAN, from the University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., outstanding researchers in the field of biomedical sciences, therefore were invited to exchange their academic and scientific knowledge and experiences with the members of iTERM and the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS) in early February 2017.
Seminar entitled “Musculoskeletal Regeneration and Tissue Engineering: Identifying Deer Antler Regenerative Genes and Engineering a Bone-Tendon Substitute for Rotator Cuff Repair” was delivered by Dr. KER on 10 Feb 2017, during which he pointed out that rotator cuff tears were one of the most common shoulder injuries with over 200,000 surgeries performed annually in the United States at an estimated cost of $3.44 billion USD. He then further elaborated his research project on the relationship of musculoskeletal regeneration and tissue engineering with the study of animal models that rapidly regenerate and the development of biomaterials that mimic the properties of native tissues.
Followed by the seminar by Dr. HAN, “Patient derived iPSCs in disease modeling and drug discovery”, she presented with her latest findings, showing the practical ways in utilizing iPSCs to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying disease. With the concerted effort by her team members, they successfully developed 2D and 3D models to (i) recapitulate phenotypes of familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), (ii) investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of HCM, and (iii) reverse disease phenotypes with chemical agents.
In the next quarter of 2017, we do believe there shall be more opportunities for our members and students to meet with foreign scientists to build up close relationships with different renowned academic institutions, so as to explore further collaborations and partnerships.
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