Massachusetts General Hospital (Stem Cell)

Massachusetts general hospital is a teaching hospital (of Harvard Medical School) and bio-medical research facility in Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and operated by Partners HealthCare (which also owns Brigham and Women’s Hospital and North Shore Medical Center). In addition, it is part of the consortium of hospitals that operates Boston MedFlight and is a member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Founded in 1811, the original hospital was designed by the famous American architect Charles Bulfinch. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United States and the oldest and largest in New England. John Warren, professor of anatomy and surgery at Harvard

Medical School, which was located in Cambridge at the time, spearheaded the move of the medical school to Boston. Warren’s son, John Collins Warren, along with James Jackson, led the efforts to start the Massachusetts General Hospital. Because all those who had sufficient money were cared for at home, Massachusetts General Hospital, as was the case with most hospitals that were founded in the 19 th century, was intended to care for the poor. During the mid- to late 1800s, Harvard Medical School was located adjacent to 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-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 biomedical 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 for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital prioritizes research with practical potential for patient benefit and supports work in the field of tissue repair and regeneration.

The Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital prioritizes research with practical potential for patient benefit and supports work in the field of tissue repair and regeneration.

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 schemas.

The center is pursuing each of these three parallel paths either directly through its membership or indirectly through collaboration. The center emphasizes fundamental biology but prioritizes areas with practical potential for patient benefit and that will provide core resources to assist a broad investigative community. In the longer term, it also supports active development in the field of tissue engineering, with the goal of integrating stem cell science into the creation of biocompatible and genetically compatible laboratory-grown organs.

HSCI is currently focused on basic research and clinical translation in five principal disease areas: cancer, diabetes, nervous system diseases (such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s), blood diseases (including AIDS), and cardiovascular disease. These diseases are among the early priorities for HSCI, but its mission is broader and encompasses basic research on all aspects of stem cell biology, with special emphasis on areas in which there is a potential opportunity to improve human health.

EDUCATION

HSCI faculty members are involved in teaching more than 18 separate undergraduate and graduate level courses, including a new undergraduate course titled “Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature,” taught by Doug Melton, scientific codirector of HSCI, and Michael Sandel, HSCI’s ethics and public policy program leader. Professors Melton and Sandel also led a faculty seminar, with well-known outside speakers, titled “Between Two Cultures,” to get both humanists and scientists to talk about the ethical and policy issues of stem cell science. Graduate and medical school courses range from basic biology and clinical applications to workshops and informal lunchtime seminars on medical ethics.

With support from the Sternlicht Director’s Fund, HSCI has announced the creation of the Sternlicht Awards for Graduate Students in Diabetes. Awards are made to students in the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who are working in the field of diabetes-related stem cell research.

The HSCI Undergraduate Summer Research Internship Program was established to provide students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in stem cell research by working in the labs of HSCI faculty members. In 2005, 26 Harvard undergraduates were selected to participate in the program. Through a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, HSCI was later able to expand the program to include nine non-Harvard students, in addition to 25 Harvard undergraduates. The program included a weekly seminar series of lectures and discussion, which was also open to the broader HSCI community. The students concluded their summer work with scientific posters and presentations of their work. To support the training of clinician scientists with expertise in stem cells, HSCI funds a Medical Scientist Training Fellowship for M.D.-Ph.D. students whose thesis projects or long-term research goals involve stem cells.

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