Massachusetts General Hospital

Center for Regenerative Medicine

The Center for Regenerative Medicine is dedicated to understanding how tissues are formed and how they may be repaired in case of injury. Its primary goal is to develop novel therapies to regenerate damaged tissues and thereby overcome debilitating chronic disease. The success of this effort requires a cohesive team of scientists and clinicians with diverse areas of expertise, but with a shared mission and dedication to the larger goal of curing chronic diseases. Central to the center's overall design and mission is the provision of technological services to tissue regeneration and stem cell research throughout the Harvard—wide community. Although these facilities support the center's research activities, they will also be made available to other stem cell researchers within the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI)'s region, further enhancing collaboration and also eventually providing an additional revenue source supporting the center.

In addition, the center is committed to creating and sustaining collaborative relationships throughout Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard [Page 319]affiliated hospitals, and with national and international researchers. The center's unparalleled focus on stem cell and tissue regeneration research is evident within the center and in the collaborations it forms. One aspect of this is the development of tools (such as the facilities) and biomédical capabilities of key principal investigator labs (such as tissue engineering and somatic cell nuclear transfer) that will support many potential future stem cell—based therapies. Another aspect is the focus on its own collaborations and its role with HSCI that offers significant opportunities for both success and impact. The areas of focus include the blood and immune system, cancer, neurological diseases, cardiac diseases, and diabetes.

The center is using stem cell biology to inform novel strategies for tissue repair in three lines: replacement parts along the model of current stem cell transplant techniques, but extended in disease application and to novel tissue constructs; as a tool to develop drug therapies to enhance endogenous tissue repair; and as a model for understanding mechanisms of degenerative disease and cancer that may change drug development schémas.

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