Events Calendar

USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center Monthly Seminar Series

Speaker: Shay Soker, PhD., Professor, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University

Talk Title: Progress and Prospects for Organ Regeneration

Abstract: Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering aim at repairing and/or replacing human tissues and organs in order to restore or establish normal function. Only in the last two decades regenerative medicine showed the potential for "bench-to-bedside" translational research in specific clinical settings. The process of regeneration may occur in vivo and/or ex vivo, and employs different technologies and methods where cells, natural or artificial scaffolds (namely, biomaterial-based constructs able to mimic the functions of the innate extracellular matrix [ECM] in order to induce three-dimensional tissue formation), growth factors, or combinations of all three elements are joined together. Tissue engineering, is mostly refers to the process of manufacturing cells, tissues and organs exclusively ex vivo.
Bioengineering solid organs destined to clinical transplantation is more complex and challenging. These organs organized in functioning units referred to as modules and requiring the reconstruction of the vascular supply. Recent attempts to translate solid organ engineering into the clinical arena indicate that it holds the promise of providing a formidable therapeutic tool for a myriad of diseases. Creation of custom-made bioengineered organs, where the cellular component is exquisitely autologous and have an internal vascular network, will theoretically overcome the two major hurdles in transplantation, namely the shortage of organs and the toxicity deriving from lifelong immunosuppression.


Biography: USC was selected to establish a $16 million cancer research center as part of a new strategy against the disease by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and its National Cancer Institute. The new center is one of 12 in the nation to receive the designation. During the five-year initiative, the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers will take new, nontraditional approaches to cancer research by studying the physical laws and principles of cancer; evolution and the evolutionary theory of cancer; information coding, decoding, transfer and translation in cancer; and ways to de-convolute cancer's complexity. As part of the outreach component of this grant, the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine is hosting a monthly seminar series.

Host: USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center

More Information: USC-PSOC_MonthlySeminar Soker.pdf

Location: Clinical Science Center (CSC) - Harkness Auditorium

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: kristina gerber