Tissue Regeneration at Heart of New Institute
SDSU's Integrated Regenerative Research Institute aims to harness the power and healing potential of stem cells.
The emerging field of tissue regeneration, which harnesses the power and healing potential of stem cells, is an area to which scientists around the world are turning their attention.
One of the foremost leaders in this area, Mark Sussman from San Diego State University, today announced the opening of SDSU’s new Integrated Regenerative Research Institute to help advance this area of research in San Diego.
Heart research symposium at SDSU
Speaking at the Frontiers in Cardiovascular Regeneration International Symposium on the SDSU campus, Sussman said the new institute brings together researchers from across the region and around the world from the private and public sectors to advance the area of tissue regeneration.
“What we’re trying to do is turn back the aging clock of your heart,” Sussman said. “How can we take the process of tissue regeneration, which normally happens over the course of a lifetime, and make it happen in a year? We are bringing together the incredible resources of the San Diego region to advance our cutting edge research in this area.”
More about the institute
Sussman will lead the Integrated Regenerative Research Institute. Members include more than 20 faculty-researchers from SDSU’s departments of biology and engineering, as well as from UCSD’s medical center, plus experts from San Diego’s private sector and internationally renown colleagues around the world.
The institute's broad-based and transdisciplinary faculty span the research spectrum from basic biological investigation to translational implementation in the clinic.
The collaborative effort focuses multiple laboratories from SDSU and UCSD on a shared goal of understanding the fundamental processes of heart protection and regeneration with a long-term vision for therapeutic strategies.
Funding providers
Their research is supported by tens of millions of dollars in extramural funding from:
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- American Heart Association
- California Institute of Regenerative Research
The institute’s investment in regenerative medicine includes a commitment to teaching the next generation of regenerative researchers at all levels, from undergraduate to post-doctoral to junior faculty.
