Regenerative medicine uses clinical procedures to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues and organs, versus some traditional therapies that just treat symptoms.
To realize the vast potential of tissue engineering and other techniques aimed at repairing damaged or diseased tissues and organs, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC established the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The McGowan Institute serves as a single base of operations for the University’s leading scientists and clinical faculty working to develop tissue engineering, cellular therapies, and artificial and biohybrid organ devices.
The McGowan Institute is the most ambitious regenerative program in the nation, coupling biology, clinical science, and engineering. Success in our mission will impact patients’ lives, bring economic benefit, serve to train the next generation of researchers, and advance the expertise of our faculty in the basic sciences, engineering, and clinical sciences. Our efforts proudly build upon the pioneering achievements of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute.
While there are certain select therapies based on regenerative medicine principles now in clinical use, much work lies ahead to realize the potential of this growing field. Advances in the underlying science, engineering strategies to harness this science, and successful commercial activities are all required to bring new therapies to patients.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
450 Technology Drive
Suite 300
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Read information on campus shuttles.
Phone: 412-624-5500
Fax: 412-624-5363
Email: McGowan@pitt.edu
The McGowan Institute sponsors a podcast series on regenerative medicine. Listen to some of the world's leading regenerative medicine researchers and physicians talk about their work.
Listen to the most recent podcasts.
FDA IND Received for Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa
SparingVision is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies for the treatment of blinding inherited retinal diseases (IRDs). SparingVision is developing SPVN06, a breakthrough gene therapy approach aimed at stopping or slowing disease progression in patients affected by IRDs and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), regardless of their genetic background. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member José-Alain Sahel, MD, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Director of the UPMC Eye Center, the Eye and Ear Foundation Chair of Ophthalmology, and Director of the Institut de la Vision (Sorbonne Universite, Inserm, CNRS, Paris), is a co-founder of SparingVision along with Thierry Léveillard, PhD.
Working to Restore a Healthy Microbiome
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Tagbo Niepa, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering with affiliations and secondary appointments in Civil & Environmental Engineering; Bioengineering; Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science; and the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome, is the principal investigator on the 3-year grant entitled, “Designing a High-Throughput Platform to Bioprospect the Human Microbiome and Manipulate Its Interplay with Host Environments.” The NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences funded this project which began on September 8, 2022.
Laying the Groundwork for the Treatment of Temporomandibular Disorders
The goal of a new research effort funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research is to identify effective small (non-peptidic) molecules for directly blocking anomalous constitutive activity of PTHR JMC mutants while maintaining the action of endogenous ligands (PTH and PTHrP). The project entitled, “Identification of selective inhibitors of PTH-receptor for Jansen’s metaphyseal chondrodysplasia,” began on September 1, 2022, for 2 years. The project’s co-principal investigator is McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Juan Taboas, PhD, Associate Professor with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences in the School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Advancing Circuit Manipulation Capabilities in the Brain
In this 4-year project funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, researchers will use cutting edge experimental, genomic, and computational tools to create and validate a suite of next generation AAVs that drive cell type specific expression in the NHP cognitive and reward systems and establish a foundation for circuit-targeted translational applications. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Leah Byrne, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, with secondary appointments in the Departments of Neurobiology and Bioengineering, is a co-principal investigator on this project which began on September 1, 2022.
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