James Dunn, PhD, MD obtained the B.S. degree in Biology and Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He then completed his M.D. and Ph.D. trainings in the Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and M.I.T. Subsequently, he spent seven years in general surgical residency at the UCLA School of Medicine and two years in pediatric surgical fellowship at the Riley Hospital for Children. In the last five years, he has served as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Surgery at UCLA. Dr. Dunn’s research interests are in the area of tissue engineering of internal organs, including the intestine, the liver, and the adrenal cortex. More
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Dr. Gregory Evans, MD, FACS is Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering and Chief of the Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Institute. He is a medical graduate of the University of Southern California and completed his plastic surgery residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Prior to coming to UCI, Dr. Evans spent seven years performing cancer reconstruction procedures, including free tissue transfer for head, neck and breast at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Evans specializes in the full spectrum of plastic surgery, with a focus on cosmetic surgery such as face, eyes, abdomen, breasts and body contouring. He continues to provide state of the art cancer reconstruction for breasts, head and neck, and extremities.
As a physician scientist, he is also a leading researcher in tissue engineering. Research projects have included recreation of new tissue equivalents for damaged nerves that will help restore function to cancer, burn and trauma patients.
Dr. Evans is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons and is currently a director for the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Dr. Garner is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. He is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Garner is a burn/reconstructive surgery specialist, a specialist in wound care and management, and a researcher of skin healing and burn wounds.
He performed his undergraduate work and completed medical school at the University of Kansas, in Kansas City, Missouri after which he completed a general surgery residency at Ohio State University. Dr. Garner also completed a fellowship in Critical Care at Ohio State University. His Plastic Surgery training took place at the prestigious Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Garner is a staff member at several hospitals including 1) USC University Hospital, 2) Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, 3) Kenneth Norris Hospital, 4) Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, and 5) Kaiser Permanente Hospital. He is involved in burn injury, wound healing, fibrosis, cytokines, and inflammation research and is currently serving as the Director of the LAC + USC County Burn Unit. As an Associate Professor of Surgery and as Director of the Burn Unit, Dr. Garner heads the Burn Team and manages the 4 month Burn Surgery and Reconstruction training rotation of USC Plastic Surgery Residents.
Dr. Garner also is involved in numerous national organizations including the American Burn Association, the Wound Healing Society, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation, the International Society for Burn Injuries, the Plastic Surgery Research Council, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the Society for Investigative Dermatology. He has served on and chaired committees, as well as served in leadership positions within most of these organizations. He presently serves on the board of directors of the Wound Healing Society, a society aimed at advancing the science and practice of wound healing, as their Treasurer. In conjunction with his research and private practice, Dr. Garner has written and co-authored numerous articles, chapters, and abstracts for various medical journals. In 1990 he received the Outstanding Abstract Award from the American Burn Association.
Dr. Garner is an outdoorsman and during his leisure time, when he is not teaching, researching, seeing patients or performing surgery, he enjoys freshwater and saltwater fishing. He is an avid connoisseur of fine wine as well.
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Nathalie Gosset has 20 years experience in the development and commercialization of technology-based products. At AMI, she is responsible for developing product specific strategic business plans. Her professional portfolio includes medical product development, oil and gas instrumentation, and telecom. She has also been a key element in the turnaround of startup companies with special focus on engineering team leadership development including having served as Vice President of Engineering at Sabeus, Inc. Ms. Nathalie Gosset is a member of several medical advisory and director boards in the Los Angeles area. Ms. Gosset has received several awards for professional excellence. At Alcatel, she received an Outstanding Achiever Award and five Quality Cups (a prestigious recognition at Alcatel) for innovative leadership. She recently received the 2005 Outstanding IEEE-Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Chapter Award, a global recognition. She holds a BSEE from ISEP (Paris, France); MS in Telecommunications (Boulder, CO); MBA (University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN).
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Nathalie Gosset
AlfrediManniInstitute,iUSC
gosset@usc.edu
Michael T. Longaker, MD
Stanford U.
longaker@stanford.edu
Dr. Michael T. Longaker joined the Stanford University School of Medicine on September 1, 2000 as Director of Children’s Surgical Research in the Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital. In 2003, he was named the Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor. As Director of Children’s Surgical Research, Dr. Longaker has the responsibility to develop a children’s surgical research program in the broad areas of developmental biology, epithelial biology and tissue repair, and tissue engineering. Prior to joining Stanford, Mike was the John Marquis Converse Professor of Plastic Surgery and held the positions of Director of Surgical Basic Science and Director of Plastic Surgery Research at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at the New York University School of Medicine.
Michael Longaker’s extensive research experience includes the cellular and molecular biology of extracellular matrix with specific applications to the differences between fetal and post-natal wound healing, the biology of keloids and hypertrophic scars and, most recently, the cellular and molecular events that surround distraction osteogenesis with respect to craniofacial development. He brings to Stanford his unique understanding of wound healing, fetal wound healing research, developmental biology and tissue engineering.
Dr. Longaker is the recipient of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Maxillofacial Foundation’s 1999 Dr. Bernd Spiessl Award. In 2000, Mike received the D. Ralph Millard, M.D. Investigator Award as co-author, PSEF Scholarship Contest and is a James IV Traveling Fellow. He is a member of the Society of University Surgeons, American Surgical Association and American Society for Clinical Investigation; currently, he serves as Treasurer for the Society of University Surgeons. To date, he has published over 750 publications and has 5 federal grants to support his research. He has recruited 5 faculty to the Children’s Surgical Research Program, all of whom are NIH funded.
Mike earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, (where he played varsity basketball and was a member of the 1979 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Team) and his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He completed his surgical residency at the University of California, San Francisco, a residency in Plastic Surgery at NYU and a craniofacial fellowship at UCLA. The majority of his research training took place while he was a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the Fetal Treatment Program under Dr. Mike Harrison and in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Banda in Radiobiology, both at UCSF. In December 2003, Dr. Longaker earned his M.B.A. from University of California – Berkeley and Columbia University, in the inaugural class of their combined program.
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Jonathan Mansbridge, PhD, after receiving his degrees from Cambridge University, joined the faculty of the Biochemistry Department of the University of Queensland. On moving to the United States, he took a research post with the Psoriasis Research Institute, investigating keratinocyte differentiation and wound healing. Subsequently, he worked on signal transduction systems in three-dimensional culture at SRI International and on microvascular endothelial cell physiology at Stanford University. He joined Advanced Tissue Sciences in 1993 as Senior Principal Scientist, where Dr. Mansbridge was extensively involved in the research, development and regulatory and commercial aspects of tissue engineering. He was extensively involved in the development, characterization and investigation of TransCyte® for burn wounds and Dermagraft® for diabetic foot ulcers. These projects developed into the general employment of tissue-engineered human extracellular matrix for surgical applications. Currently, he is employed by Smith and Nephew as a Senior Research Fellow, on the development of new processes and products based on three-dimensional fibroblast culture.
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The work of Manuela Martins-Green in her laboratory centers on studying the mechanisms of chemokine function in wound healing and tumor development. Chemokines are highly conserved proteins among higher vertebrates, are critical activators of the immune system, and are important not only in inflammatory diseases but also in healing, tumorigenesis and viral infections (e.g., HIV). Our work concentrates on two aspects of chemokine biology: (1) Determining the signal transduction and transcription activation mechanisms leading to expression of chemokines upon stimulation by stress-inducing agents associated with injury and tumorigenesis; (2) determining the functions of chemokines during wound healing and tumor development. To understand chemokine stimulation, we investigate (a) agents released upon injury, e.g. thrombin, (b) environmental toxicants, e.g. tobacco smoke, (c) radiation effects, e.g. ionizing radiation. In our work on chemokine function, we have determined that certain chemokines, such as IL-8 and its homologues, are angiogenic (stimulate formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones) and stimulate fibroblasts to differentiate into myofibroblasts, thereby accelerating wound contraction and closure. We have now developed a 3D co-culture system of primary human cells that mimics human skin in vivo, but in which we can control and manipulate the cells, to determine the molecular mechanisms by which human chemokines are stimulated and participate in angiogenesis , myofibroblast differentiation, and other aspects of tissue repair. Chemokines are very attractive targets for drug development because they are small inducible proteins that are easy to produce and modify, and they activate seven-transmembrane receptors that are highly amenable to pharmacological manipulations.Click here for her CV.
Anthony Ratcliffe, Ph.D. is President and CEO of Synthasome, Inc. Dr. Ratcliffe obtained his B.Sc. in biochemistry in 1977, and Ph.D. in immunology in 1980, from the University of Birmingham, UK. He then joined The Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, London as a Research Scientist, and in 1987 he moved to Columbia University, New York, as Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Biochemistry. In 1996 he joined Advanced Tissue Sciences in La Jolla, where he served as Vice President for Research until 2002. Dr. Ratcliffe has focused his research on connective tissue biochemistry, musculoskeletal research, and tissue engineering. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Study Sections for NIH, Co-Chairman of the Grant Review Committee for the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation, Co-Chairman of the Tissue Engineering Committee for ASTM, and has published more than 100 papers.
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A. Hari Reddi. Ph.D is the Director of Center for Tissue Regeneration and Repair at the University of California in Davis, California. He is a pioneer in the field of bone morphogenetic proteins and regenerative medicine. Dr. Reddi holds the Lawrence Ellison Chair in Musculoskeletal Molecular biology. He held appointments previously in Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and the University of Chicago. He is committed to the mission and goals of the Canadian Arthritis Network.
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Susan L. Riley, Ph.D., is a Senior Manager in the Development Department at Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. She obtained her B.S. degree in Chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. from the Chemical Engineering department at Rice University in Houston, Texas under the supervision of Professor Anthony Mikos. Her Ph.D. thesis topic was related to the tissue engineering of bone by culturing marrow-derived stem cells in biodegradable polymer scaffolds. After a brief detour as a postdoc investigating how to use ultrasensitive flow cytometry to sequence DNA, she returned to her tissue engineering roots by accepting a Research Scientist position at Advanced Tissue Sciences (ATS). At ATS she studied the effects of scaffold properties on cartilage tissue engineering, as well as being involved in scaling up the production of tissue engineered cartilage constructs. Subsequently she moved to MacroPore Biosurgery as Manager of Polymer Research, being responsible for developing and characterizing new degradable polymer implants. The Biomaterials division of MacroPore Biosurgery then became a subsidiary of Cytori Therapeutics and she moved into the Development Department of the Biologics division, again working on stem cells. Currently, her research focuses on optimizing the isolation process for obtaining stem and regenerative cells from liposuctioned fat tissue.
Dr. Sah joined the Bioengineering faculty of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1992. He was promoted to Professor in 2001, and has served as Vice Chair of the Department of Bioengineering since 2002. Dr. Sah received his S.B. and S.M. degrees in electrical engineering in 1983 and his Sc.D. in medical physics in 1990, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received the M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1991. Dr. Sah directs the UCSD Cartilage Tissue Engineering Lab ( http://cte.ucsd.edu), and his research focuses on the multi-scale mechaniobiology of articular cartilage in joints in health and disease, and on development of biological restoration therapies. His group has elucidated load-bearing and low-friction properties of articular cartilage, contributed to the emerging mechanobiology paradigm of joint lubrication, and introduced the design of cartilaginous tissue implants with a biomimetic lubricant-secreting surface zone. Dr. Sah has been active in bioengineering education and service. Over the past ten years, he has advised the UCSD undergraduate student chapter of the national Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). The UCSD Chapter received recognition from the National BMES Society for Meritorious Achievement in 2004 and 2005, and it held the first ever Bioengineering Quiz Bowl in 2006 at UCSD. Dr. Sah received the 2005 UCSD Outstanding Mentor Award in Sciences and Engineering. Dr. Sah is recipient of the Arthritis Foundation Hulda Irene Duggan Investigator Award, the National Science Foundation Young Investigator, the Anne Doner Vaughan Kappa Delta Award as well as the Young Investigator Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Van C Mow Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2006, he was named Professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Sah served as the past Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Musculoskeletal Biology and Bioengineering, and he is currently on the executive board for the International Cartilage Repair Society and editorial advisory boards for Arthritis and Rheumatism and Journal of Orthopaedic Research.
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Dr. Bill Tawil obtained his Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He then completed his Master and Doctorate degrees in Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal under the supervision of Dr. Salvatore Carbonate studying the expression and function of adhesion cell surface receptors (integrins) in the Central Nervous System and during tumor metastasis. Subsequently, he spent four years of postdoctoral training at the Center for Cancer Research at MIT under the supervision of Dr. Richard Hynes investigating cell adhesion during the cell cycle. In the last ten years, as a Scientist and a Senior Scientist at U.S. Surgical Corporation and recently at Baxter BioSurgery, he has worked in the field of Tissue Regeneration examining products (synthetic and biologics) that successfully deliver bioactive substances and cells to enhance healing in soft and hard tissue defects. He is presently a Director of Global Strategy at Baxter BioSurgery responsible for scientific initiatives related to tissue engineering. He is also responsible for establishing collaborations between Baxter BioSurgery and other companies and academic institutions. Dr. Tawil is also an Adjunct Professor in the Bioengineering department at UCLA where he teaches and performs research in tissue engineering supported by an NIH grant. He is on the Scientific Advisory Committee for various societies including the California Tissue Engineering Meeting and the Los Angeles Tissue Engineering Initiative meeting. Dr. Tawil believes strongly that the interaction between academia and industry is an expedient and successful way to get products to the patient.
Benjamin Wu, D.D.S., Ph.D., received his D.D.S. from the University of Pacific, his specialty certificate in advanced prosthodontics and complete oral rehabilitation from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prof. Wu is currently Vice Chair of the UCLA Department of Bioengineering, with multiple joint appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, Biomaterials, and Hospital Dentistry at UCLA. Benefiting from his unique perspective as a practicing clinician and biomaterials scientist, his research brings to bear bioengineering approach to rebuild lost function in a variety of hard and soft tissues. Several underlying themes that thread his various projects together include 1) learn how nature heals wounds and tissue defects; 2) copy nature and engineer biomimetic microenvironments to promote repair; 3) investigate the mechanisms by which progenitor cells interact with the engineered microenvironments; and 4) investigate the mechanism by which biomolecules interact with various scaffolding materials. The multidisciplinary nature of his research is reflected by his role as Co-Director of the Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, and his membership in the Brain Research Institute, the California NanoSystems Institute, and Cadiovascular Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA.
