I was fortunate to be asked to provide a keynote speech for the Second International Conference on Nanotechnology held in Kochi, India. There I was reunited with some of my former students, all of whom are now professors. Swami Sethuranum (left) is the director of the Center for Nanotechnology at SASTRA University near Chennai, India; Dhiru Katti (center) is a leading researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur; and Lakshmi Nair (right) is an outstanding scientist who has been with me since our days at Drexel University in the 1990s. She is currently a core member of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut. All are internationally known for their work in nanotechnology, and all were invited to speak at this conference.

As proud as I am of the research work we do here at UConn, I am even prouder of the people I’ve had the privilege of mentoring and training. Watching them succeed in their fields of endeavor is very gratifying. Seeing them together in India underscores how fortunate we are to have such an international family. All gave exceptionally strong presentations in their areas of nanobiomaterials and nanomedicine. Although we have not been together physically for seven years, we are in constant communication. It is extremely satisfying to know that, as a group, our spirits remain linked.

Last June, I was invited to speak at the 25th anniversary celebration of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). My talk, entitled “Meeting the Grand Challenges: Bold Ideas; Bold, Smart People; Organizations that Believe,” was based on my firm belief that we need those three things to successfully tackle challenges in medicine. Other keynote speakers included Professor Helen Lu, my former fellow at Drexel who is Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. I thank NIAMS for providing ongoing financial support for our research and for having the courage to believe in bold ideas. My talk was recently placed online. Please visit Meeting the Grand Challenges. I welcome your comments. Thank you.

Recently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center Program reviewed our grant p re-proposal and invited us to develop a full application. It was particularly exciting for us because we scored in the top 10% of all submissions.

If the NSF approves our application, a unique center, focused on a regenerative engineering approach to complex tissue and organ regeneration, will be established with a base here at UConn. The proposed studies will assist in designing strategies to transition from individual tissues to complex organ regeneration. This program will focus on the integration of stem cell technology, regenerative biology, and Biomaterials science. Having a dedicated center will bring basic science, engineering, and medicine together under one umbrella. Our hope is that we will develop practical strategies which will ultimately lead to whole limb regeneration.

Congratulations to all the investigators who are participating in this proposal!

Dr. Lo is a fellow who’s been in my team since 2008. He was born in Hong Kong and received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Lo’s research interests include musculoskeletal tissue engineering, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, biochemistry, and cell molecular biology. Dr. Lo has been an outstanding fellow and it’s been great to have the opportunity to mentor him. His research contributions are reflected in his nineteen papers published in high-impact journals which have been highly cited by other investigators. Dr. Lo submitted several grant applications to funding agencies and two of the applications were recently funded. Dr. Lo also serves as an independent reviewer for a number of international peer-review journals.

Specific areas of Dr. Lo’s interest include:
1. Develop bone-inducing small molecules for bone regenerative engineering.
2. Develop targeted drug delivery system for osteoporosis.
3. Evaluate the therapeutic potential of using molecular motors as nano-scale motor vehicles to deliver drugs and/or genes intracellularly.
4. Investigate the signaling pathway mechanism underlying bone regeneration in cells and tissues.

Dr. Nair is an assistant professor who’s been at our institute since its start. She received her education from India. She did her postdoctoral training in my group at Drexel University and the University of Virginia before joining us in her current position. Her research interests include hydrogels, nanotechnology, and tissue engineering. She has more than 50 archival publications in the areas of biomaterials, drug delivery, injectable hydrogels, and tissue engineering.

Dr. Nair’s current research program in our Institute centers on identifying unique biologically active molecules and developing biofunctional biomaterial constructs as artificial tissue microenvironments which can favorably modulate cellular responses to promote tissue regeneration and/ repair as well as for eliciting host immune defense to promote tumor regression. Their working hypothesis is that bio-functional biomaterials that can activate specific cell signaling pathways can be developed and when appropriately controlled can play a significant role in accelerating tissue regeneration as well as creating an immuno-active microenvironment for tumor regression. Specifically, her approaches to regenerative biomaterials include:

A. Design and Development of bio-functional polymeric systems.

B. Development of injectable biofunctional biomaterials as bioactive artificial cell microenvironment.

C. Understanding the immuno-modulatory functions of biofunctional biomaterials.

D. Understanding the activation of signal transduction pathways in musculoskeletal cells and immune cells in the presence of bio-functional biomaterials.

E. Evaluating the efficacy of the biofunctional biomaterials using in vivo animal models.

Dr. Nair’s laboratory is well-funded and is currently supported by two US-army grants aimed at understanding the immuno-modulatory functions of biofunctional injectable materials and to control their properties to support bone and cartilage tissue regeneration. The research is also funded by CSTC to develop injectable regenerative biomaterials as cell delivery vehicle for bone regeneration. She is the principal investigator on these grants. In addition she is a co-investigator on a Connecticut Stm Cell Institute grant to develop injectable hydrogels for cartilage regeneration using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC’s).

Nationally, Dr. Nair is involved in a number of organizations. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and sits on the editorial board for the Recent Patents in Biomedical Engineering and Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology and serves as a reviewer for more than 30 peer reviewed journals. She also serves on grants panels for federal agencies such as NSF, NIH (adhoc member), Department of Veterans affairs (appointed to the Scientific Merit Review Board) and for international agencies such as Hong Kong Research Grant Council, Israel Science Foundation and Indo-US Science & Technology Forum.

 

I am very happy to report that we just received an NIH grant award to develop our research on next generation bone grafts. The recognition from the NIH supports our confidence in the potential impact of our ideas on the future treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. The innovation of the proposal is the use of small signaling molecules, based on cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP) combined with matrices for engineering bone tissue. This award highlights the creativity and dedication of our scientists at the Institute for Regenerative Engineering including our the excellent work of co‒investigator, Dr. Kevin Wai Hong Lo.

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.
University Professor
Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professor of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering
Chief Executive Officer, Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
Director, Institute for Regenerative Engineering

On November 4th, I was so fortunate to be invited by Montana State University to give a public lecture on Regenerative Engineering of the Musculoskeletal System. It was sponsored by the Molecular Biosciences Program and the Montana IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program. This was my first time I visted the beautiful state of Montana. I so appreciated the hospitality. I particularly want to thank Cassandra Langr, a remarkable Ph.D. student at the school who was my host for the event.

I also gave a brief interview to their CBS TV affiliate channel while I was in Montana, and it is online.

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.
University Professor
Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professor of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering
Chief Executive Officer, Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
Director, Institute for Regenerative Engineering

In a continuing commitment to support the work of promising young investigators at the Health Center, I am delighted to announce that Stormy Chamberlain, Ph.D., is the first recipient of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Assistant Professor Support Endowment.

Dr. Chamberlain is an integral part of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology and the UConn Stem Cell Institute. Working closely with Marc Lalande, Ph.D., the department chairman and the Health Center’s Senior Associate Dean, Research Planning and Coordination, she is pursuing the use of stem cells to model and study human imprinting disorders associated with inherited conditions such as Angelman syndrome.

The new endowment will support Dr. Chamberlain’s research and academic activities.

Raymond and Beverly Sackler are nationally and internationally prominent philanthropists who have generously supported the University and the Health Center through the years. In the area of stem cell research, they previously established the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund for Genetics and Molecular Medicine and provided significant grant funding that has supported the work of Health Center researchers Brenton Graveley, Ph.D., and Bruce Mayer, Ph.D., also of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology.

I am profoundly grateful to the Sacklers and extend best wishes to Dr. Chamberlain for her continued success.

I am proud to announce that the Health Center was the only organization in the country to receive two of the nine 2010 research grants awarded by the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation. The MTF is the nation’s largest tissue bank that connects donors with surgeons and transplant recipients. As a non-profit service organization, MTF is dedicated to providing quality tissue through a commitment to excellence in education, research, recovery and care for recipients, donors and their families.

Both of our recipients are colleagues of mine in the New England Musculoskeletal Institute. Jay R. Lieberman, M.D., director of the New England Musculoskeletal Institute is the recipient of the J.R. Neff Award, and Yusuf Khan, Ph.D., Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Chemical, Materials, and Biomolecular Engineering at UConn Storrs, has received the Peer Review – Junior Investigator award.

Congratulations to both!

I am very proud to announce that eleven University of Connecticut scientists received state-funded grant awards Tuesday, totaling $5.4 million from the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee (SCRAC) to advance embryonic and human adult stem cell research in Connecticut. These grants will allow researchers to pursue discoveries that one day may yield treatments for spinal cord injuries and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and juvenile diabetes. Congratulations.

Further information including the names of the award recipients are detailed in a news release found at:
http://www.uchc.edu/ocomm/newsreleases09/apr09/
stemcell_research.html.