On August 5, Eric N. James, a member of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis, “Post-Transcriptional Regulation in Osteoblast Using Localized Delivery of microRNAs from Nanofibers.” Eric wrote his thesis under the supervision of Dr. Lakshmi S. Nair as part of Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Graduate Program. Members of his committee also included Drs. Anne Delany and Yusuf Khan.
Congratulations on your accomplishment, Eric!
On May 13, Stan Simpson, host of “The Stan Simpson Show” on Fox CT, invited me to be a guest on his show. The program is an entertaining and insightful talk show which focuses on current affairs. It airs Saturdays at 5:30 a.m. and can also be seen on the web, www.foxct.com/stan.
During the interview, we discussed raising awareness about racial inequities in health care and how to eliminate health care disparities in minority communities. Thank you to the wonderful team at Fox CT and to Stan Simpson for conducting the interview.
A new textbook entitled Injectable Hydrogels for Regenerative Engineering edited by UConn’s Lakshmi Nair, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, focuses on synthetic approaches towards developing injectable hydrogels, and the clinical implications and applications of injectable hydrogels for engineering various tissues. The chapters of the book are contributed by the leading researchers in academia, surgeons, and industry leaders. In this book, readers can find detailed information on applications of the hydrogels to regenerate many issues, such as neural tissue, articular cartilage, and cardiac tissue.
The Institute for Regenerative Engineering recently published a new textbook, Regenerative Engineering of Musculoskeletal Tissues and Interfaces. Published by Woodhead Publishing Ltd, this comprehensive book looks at individual musculoskeletal tissues as well as tissue interfaces. Early chapters cover various fundamentals of biomaterials and scaffolds, types of cells, growth factors, and mechanical forces, moving on to discuss tissue-engineering strategies for bone, tendon, ligament, cartilage, meniscus, and muscle, as well as progress and advances in tissue vascularization and nerve innervation of the individual tissues. Late chapters present information on musculoskeletal tissue interfaces. As the chief editor, I want to express my gratitude first and foremost to all our contributors and especially, my co-editors, Drs. Joseph Freeman and Syam Nukavarapu, for their tireless efforts and time to edit this book.
I am happy to announce that Springer Publishing has officially launched the international journal, Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine in partnership with the newly formed Regenerative Engineering Society. The new journal will cover the convergence of multiple fields including tissue generation, advanced materials science, stem cell research, the physical sciences, and developmental biology. The senior editorial team includes managing editor, Lakshmi S. Nair, MPhil, PhD, and assistant managing editor, Tao Jiang, PhD, MBA, both of the University of Connecticut; and news and views editor, Ali Khademhosseini, PhD, of Harvard University. Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine is currently seeking submissions. For information and online submission instructions, please visit the submissions page.
On April 16th, the journal hosted a Meet-the-Editors event at the 2015 Society for Biomaterials Meeting and Exhibition in Charlotte, NC. I am excited to be working with Springer and the editorial team on this new journal.
On April 10th, Paiyz Mikael successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis and completed her work with the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. Paiyz joined the Institute under the guidance of Dr. Syam Nukavarapu as part of UConn’s Biomedical Engineering Program. Her thesis focused on developing mechanically superior polymeric-carbon nanotube composite scaffolds for the regeneration of segmental bone defects.
Congratulations Paiyz!
The Institute for Regenerative Engineering has published the landmark book Bone Graft Substitutes and Bone Regenerative Engineering. The book provides a well-rounded and articulate summary of the present status of using allogeneic, xenogenic, and synthetic bone graft substitutes to reconstruct bone tissues. To reflect on the importance of the concept of convergence, Bone Graft Substitutes and Bone Regenerative Engineering captures the excitement of the new field we call Regenerative Engineering. The chapters of the book are written by the leading researchers in academia, surgeons, industry leaders and regulatory specialists. We believe this new book, following the very successful first edition entitled Bone Graft Substitutes, will be of value to people who work in all fields involving bone. I thank Dr. Tao Jiang, my co-editor, for his time and effort in working with me. In addition, the publication of this book would be impossible without the assistance from numerous people at ASTM International. Finally, I also want to thank the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation for their tremendous support in all our efforts to define the new field of Regenerative Engineering.
On April 9, I gave a plenary lecture as part of the Institute for Medical Engineering & Science (IMES) Distinguished Speaker Series at MIT. My talk highlighted the importance of convergence research as illustrated by some of our recent work in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering.
Regenerative engineering is defined as taking tissue engineering a step further by integrating it with advanced materials science, stem cell science, and areas of developmental biology. I discussed the new research direction in the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues through the regenerative engineering approach.
It was wonderful visiting MIT and seeing the changes that have occurred since I received my Ph.D. there. I appreciated the warm hospitality provided by IMES.
On March 6th, UConn Health hosted the second Women in Surgery Lectureship with guest lecturer Dr. Andrea Hayes-Jordan, Director of Pediatric Surgical Oncology and Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology and Pediatrics at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The lectureship, co-sponsored by CICATS and the Department of Surgery, was moderated by Dr. Linda Barry, CICATS COO and Assistant Director.
Dr. Hayes-Jordan is the only surgeon in North America to perform hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion with chemotherapy (HIPEC), a heated chemotherapy procedure for the treatment of children with rare abdominal cancers. In addition, she is the principal investigator for three phase 1 and one phase 2 investigator-initiated trials. She also leads a basic science laboratory studying lung metastasis and sarcomas. Dr. Hayes-Jordan’s lecture focused on her pioneering surgical and academic experience in performing the HIPEC procedure. Through rigorous analysis of HIPEC data, she has refined and improved the procedure, identifying those patients best suited to benefit from it. Dr. Hayes-Jordan provided case presentations, including in-depth analyses of some specific patients’ diagnoses and treatments.
Following her lecture, the Women in Surgery Interest Group luncheon provided a unique opportunity for students to discuss their interests, future career paths and academic track with Dr. Hayes-Jordan.
We thank Dr. Hayes-Jordan for giving so much of her time to inform, educate and inspire the faculty and student body. We look forward to following the future of her research and career.
On January 19, I served as the keynote speaker for the 30th Annual Martin Luther King Jr./Albert Owens Scholarship Breakfast at Lincoln Middle School in Meriden, CT. My speech highlighted the great work and progress made from the dawn of the civil right movement to the present day. In citing the disproportionate incarceration rates of black men and the prevalence of significant health disparities affecting black children, women and men, I also emphasized that work needs to continue to achieve Dr. King’s vision.
For 30 years, the Martin Luther King Jr./Albert Owens Scholarship Fund has honored the memory of not only Martin Luther King Jr., but Meriden’s own Albert Owens, a civic and union leader, who served as the city’s first human rights director. The breakfast has raised over $100,000 for scholarships which help local students achieve their dreams of college degrees.
Meriden resident Rhudean S. Raye founded the Martin Luther King Jr./Albert Owens Scholarship Breakfast and has run it for the entirety of its existence. Ms. Raye attended college at the Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC, received her nurse’s training at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, and came to Meriden in the 1950s. While working as a nurse at the Meriden-Wallingford Hospital, she obtained her certification to become an elementary teacher. As one of Meriden’s first black teachers, she taught first and second grade at the Nathan Hale School for 32 years.