The SmartState Program was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002 to use state funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance the state's economy. At the heart of each center are one or more world-class scientists.

The following endowed chairs are housed within the Bioengineering Building.

Joseph Helpern, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Brain Imaging
Helpern is leading a new biomedical imaging initiative at MUSC while continuing his personal research activities, which focus mainly on using magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and stroke.

Martin Morad, Ph.D., BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Health
Morad is an internationally recognized scientist in the field of cardiac electrophysiology and calcium signaling, specifically in the area of calcium-binding proteins. Morad seeks to discover what causes these calcium signaling mechanisms to stop working properly, resulting in congestive heart failure.

Richard Swaja, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine
Swaja's work is focused on regenerative medicine — the application of tissue engineering principles to restore the structure and function of damaged tissues and organs. Swaja is the director of the South Carolina Bioengineering Alliance.

Xuejun Wen, M.D., Ph.D., Hansjörg Wyss Endowed Chair Professor in Regenerative Medicine
Wen is researching ways to regenerate functional human tissues. One of Wen's focus areas is biomedical devices. Examples include a "living" cochlear implant to help restore hearing loss and a "nerve bridging" device that would use material scaffolds and grafted cells to encourage nerve cells damaged by injury to regenerate.

The SmartState Program is allowing South Carolina to compete successfully in the global knowledge-based economy. The program funds research to find next-generation therapeutics for cancer, Alzheimer's disease and many other crucial health problems. The following endowed chairs are housed within the Drug Discovery Building.

John J. Lemasters, Ph.D., GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Endowed Chair
Lemasters is a pioneer of techniques that allow scientists to see what happens inside an individual cell during reoxygenation-the restoration of oxygen to an organ following oxygen deprivation, which sometimes occurs following a heart attack or stroke.

Charles D. Smith, Ph.D., Charles and Carol Cooper Endowed Chair in Pharmacy
Smith works to design drugs to fight cancer by unlocking molecular mechanisms important for tumor growth. This research could also enable the development of new drugs to fight a variety of inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, Crohn's disease and diabetic retinopathy.

Kenneth Tew, Ph.D., The John C. West Endowed Chair in Cancer Research
Tew is a leader in cancer drug discovery and development. One drug he is working to develop shows promise in treating ovarian and lung cancer, and another has potential as a modifier of bone marrow mediated immune function.

Patrick Woster, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Medicinal Chemistry
Woster is one of the nation's leading cancer drug researchers and is working to develop drugs that turn specific genes on or off in tumor cells, a process known as epigenetic modulation that can make anti-tumor medications more effective.

For information on SmartState South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence, visit http://www.sccoee.org.