By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.
The National Academy of Engineering hosted the inaugural meeting of the Regenerative Engineering Society on December 10 and 11 in Irvine, CA. Sponsored by both the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the meeting took place at the Beckman Center. The theme of the meeting was “Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering” and featured four leaders in the field who discussed their work. The “Rock Stars” included: Rui Reis of University of Minho (Portugal); David Gardiner of University of California, Irvine; Ali Khademhousseini of M.I.T.; and Roderic Pettigrew of NIH/NIBIB.
This was indeed an historic event for the Regenerative Engineering Society, an organization that works to push the boundaries of how we think about regeneration through the creation of a community that knows no bounds. On behalf of the organizing committee of the Regenerative Engineering Society, I want to thank and congratulate everyone who participated. I look forward to our next Rock Stars meeting, and to further building our membership.
