Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
August 26, 2003
CHARLESTON, SC -- MUSC, USC and Clemson University have just
been awarded $6 million in 2004 lottery proceeds to set up a Center for Regenerative
Medicine.
Approval for the funding was proposed by the presidents of MUSC, USC and Clemson
(Drs. Ray Greenberg, Andrew Sorensen and James Barker) yesterday at the meeting
of the Oversight Board for the SC Centers of Economic Excellence, and it was
unanimously approved. The proposal had received high scores in the last round
of competition, but was deferred until the three presidents could develop a
joint fundraising strategy for the matching monies. The three presidents have
indicated that this proposal will receive their highest level of support in
fundraising, and they have developed plans to jointly approach potential partners
to request matching funds. This unprecedented level of scientific and administrative
cooperation and support from the presidents of each university is a remarkable
endorsement of the need for South Carolina's research universities to work closely
together.
Regenerative medicine has been identified by the National Institutes of Health
and the scientific community as one of the fastest growing frontier areas in
biomedical technology with impressive potential to have impact upon the health
human lives. Also known as tissue engineering, the science is involved with
the remodeling of tissues and organs for the purpose of repairing, replacing,
maintaining or enhancing organ function as well as the engineering and growing
of functional tissue substitutes to serve as biological replacement for damaged
or diseased tissues and organs.
"Our vision and long-term goal for the center is to combine and expand
the existing statewide expertise in developmental biology, adult stem cell technology,
and bioengineering into a center focused on regenerative medicine that would
address major health concerns in South Carolina and the nation," said Roger
Markwald, Ph.D., project director and chair of the Department of Cell Biology
and Anatomy at MUSC.
The initial emphasis will be on cardiovascular diseases, both in the newborn
and adult populations, because South Carolina leads the entire nation in heart
and vascular diseases. Merely living in South Carolina, whether an individual
was born here or has relocated here, reduces life expectancy by two years.
The regenerative medicine center will have the potential to change the way medicine
is practiced, and in doing so, create growth industries that would develop to
implement the potential of engineering new tissues and organs. The regenerative
Medicine Center will be unique to South Carolina and the region. It will provide
opportunity to train graduate students postdoctoral fellows and clinical research
fellows in this exciting new breakthrough for medical practice and attract companies
looking to invest in health related research.
The center could evolve into an economically viable entity as a statewide repository
for stem cells or a source of biomaterials or biologically developed tissue
substitutes that attract new biotech firms or venture capitalists.
The three South Carolina research universities to participate in the center already have strengths in regenerative medicine and bioengineering supported by extramural grants exceeding $60 million. Additionally much of the administrative infrastructure needed to enhance mutual collaboration among the three institutions is already in place as a result of EPSCoR and other statewide programs.
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