College of Medicine alumni Joseph Vacanti, M.D., will give the 28th annual John S. Latta Lecture on March 24.
Dr. Vacanti, a 1974 graduate, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. at the UNMC Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater on “From Omaha to Boston; from Brain Polyribosomes to Tissue Engineering.”
Dr. Vacanti is the John Homans Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, as well as the co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine, the director of the Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication and the chief of pediatric transplantation at Massachusetts General Hospital.
As an academic surgeon, Dr. Vacanti has been active in clinical innovation as well as basic research. He instituted New England’s first successful pediatric ECMO program in 1984 while at Children’s Hospital Boston. As well, he began the nation’s first liver transplantation program specifically for the pediatric population. Dr. Vacanti has been working in the field of tissue engineering since its beginning in the early 1980s – a mission that stems from his long-held interest in solving the problem of organ shortages.
His approach to developing tissue involves a scaffold made of a biodegradable polymer, seeding it with living cells, and bathing it in growth factors. The cells can come from living tissue or stem cells. The cells multiply, filling the scaffold, and growing into a three-dimensional tissue. Once implanted in the body, the cells recreate their proper tissue function, blood vessels grow into the new tissue, the scaffold degrades, and lab-grown tissue becomes indistinguishable from its surroundings.
Dr. Vacanti has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School since 1974. He has authored more than 320 original reports, 69 book chapters, 54 reviews, and over 473 abstracts. He has 81 patents or patents pending in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan.
The presentation will be live-streamed. Download the player here, and click here to access the presentation. The link will be ready for access at 11:30 a.m.
Please RSVP via email or to 402-559-4385.