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Atlanta, GA | Posted: March 1, 2012
Marketing & Events
Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience
Georgia Institute of Technology
Summary Sentence:
Georgia Tech faculty invited by the National Science Foundation to take part in an international assessment of the Stem Cell Engineering field.
Full Summary:
Robert M. Nerem, Ph.D., professor in mechanical engineering and Todd C. McDevitt, Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech, were invited by the lead sponsor, Semahat S. Demir Ph.D. from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take part in an international assessment of the stem cell engineering field. Nerem will lead the panel and the findings of this study will result in recommendations to the NSF and other funding agencies on future research directions and investments, recommendations on global initiatives with international partners and public workshops.
Robert Nerem & Todd McDevittRobert M. Nerem, Ph.D., professor in mechanical engineering and Todd C.
McDevitt, Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech,
were invited by the lead sponsor, Semahat S.
Demir Ph.D. of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take part in an
international assessment of the stem cell engineering field. Nerem will
lead the panel and the findings of this study will result in recommendations to
the NSF and other funding agencies on future research directions and
investments, recommendations on global initiatives with international partners
and public workshops.
The study, which is being conducted by the World Technology Evaluation Center
(WTEC), aims to assess the current status and the trends of stem cell
engineering, and compare U.S. research and development programs with those
abroad. In addition to the NSF, the study is co-sponsored by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST).
“Tech is fortunate to have two out of the six experts on this panel,” Nerem
said. “It conveys Georgia Tech's nascent leadership in this relatively new and
rapidly growing field and it is a great opportunity to provide input and
leadership to our funding agencies and help our government understand where
best to invest.”
President Obama, Congress and numerous states have recognized the value of stem
cell research. Knowledge of research activities abroad will help to formulate
and prioritize research directions to support President Obama's executive order
for expanding stem cell research so that it has the greatest potential for
clinical and commercial applications.
Dozens of companies have recently entered the stem cell engineering field in
search of clinical and commercial applications. There is clear impetus
for the U.S. to support stem cell research and continue its leadership in the
basic sciences for the betterment of humankind. A Congressional Research
Service report on stem cell research, which reviewed the political, moral and
ethical issues of the subject, indicated the strengthening interest and
economic commitment for stem cell research in the U.S. and the rest of the
world.
This study will use WTEC's methodology and an expert panel of six to conduct
site visits to overseas laboratories where work in stem cell engineering is
done. The panelists began their study in November, when they traveled to China
and Japan, and will continue their evaluation this week in Europe. These
visits, combined with the panel's own research experiences and assessments,
will help shape a report. Like the previous WTEC studies on the tissue
engineering and nanotechnology fields, this effort will act as a guide for U.S.
research investments in this emerging field and will help identify key issues
of critical importance to program officers.
“This is an excellent opportunity to learn what other countries are doing and
benchmark against other programs in order to position the U.S. to become
leaders in stem cell research and development,” said McDevitt, who is also an
associate professor in the Wallace H. Counter Department of Biomedical
Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. “Manufacturing, clinical
trials and commercializing stem cell-based products, if done strategically, is
something that could boost our nation’s economy.”
This week the scientists will travel to Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In addition to Nerem and McDevitt, other panelists include Jeanne
Loring, Ph.D., The Scripps Institute; Sean Palecek, Ph.D., University of
Wisconsin; David Schaffer, Ph.D., University California at Berkeley; and Peter
Zandstra, Ph.D., University of Toronto.
WTEC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research institute, which is a spin-off of
Loyola University Maryland. Since 1989, WTEC has provided such assessment
studies in more than 60 fields of R&D under peer-reviewed grants from NSF.
