The emerging science of regenerative medicine will be discussed at a free public lecture to be held at The University of Queensland on Thursday, August 28.
The goal of regenerative medicine is the repair, replacement and regeneration of tissues and organs. Regenerative Medicine: the science, the technology and the industry lecture will raise important issues including stem cell therapies, government regulation and tissue engineering ethics.
Director of the Parker H Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US Professor Robert M Nerem will discuss the scale-up of manufacturing processes and the preservation of living-cell products for off-the-shelf availability.
Chair of Anatomy and Co-Director of UQ’s Centre for Research in Vascular Biology Professor Gordon Campbell said recent advances in molecular and cell biology as well as tissue engineering related technologies had paved the way for regenerative medicine.
“This approach seeks to circumvent the shortage of organs for transplantation by combining these technologies in an attempt to replace diseased or absent tissue,” he said.
Professor Nerem is currently conducting research in the field of cellular and tissue engineering including the development of a blood vessel substitute for use in bypass surgery.
Professor Campbell said to truly confront the transplantation crisis regenerative medicine and tissue engineering must move from the relatively simple products such as skin to the vital and complex organs such as heart, liver and kidney.
“The use of tissue engineering and stem cell technology to create complex solid organs such as the kidney for transplantation must truly be regarded as a long term goal,” he said.
Professor Campbell said tissue engineering was driven by patient demand as there were insufficient donations of native tissues to address existing transplantation needs.
“For every 10 patients with a need for a transplanted organ there is one donor available,” he said.
The lecture will be hosted by Head of UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences Professor David Adams. Professor Adams will also present the School of Biomedical Sciences student awards and prizes at a ceremony following the lecture.
Among the prizes will be the prestigious $1000 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Dissection Award.
The lecture and ceremony will take place at 6pm in the IMB Auditorium, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Chancellor’s Place at the St Lucia Campus.
Media: For more information, contact Professor Gordon Campbell (telephone 07 3365 2991, email: g.campbell@uq.edu.au) or Gabrielle Pascoe (telephone 07 3365 1950, email: gabrielle@uq.edu.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
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