UCL: regenerative medicine powerhouse
A brief profile of UCL’s recent work in progressing regenerative medicine
The University College London (London, UK), is a publishing powerhouse. However, it is also an institute that is working very hard to really push forward the field of regenerative medicine. Its members have not only publish excellent research, with multidisciplinary collaboration, but have also been pushing forward the promotion of better policies and public understanding.
The members of the Regenerative Medicine (RegenMed) Bioprocessing Programme in the UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering, including Professor Mike Hoare, Professor Gary Lye, Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker, Professor Chris Mason, Dr Frank Baganz, Dr Dan Bracewell, Dr Martina Micheletti, Dr Nicolas Szita, Dr Farlan Veraitch and Dr Yuhong Zhou, not only have huge influence within the UK field and government but are respected internationally, attending and presenting conferences all over the globe such as the World Stem Cell Summit. Additionally, members of UCL staff are involved in fantastic societies and projects such as the London Regenerative Medicine Network (LRMN) and the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP).
Last year was a great year for UCL in terms of news and publications; Dr Achala de Mel, Lecturer in Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine, received an Impact Award to carry out research on nitric oxide releasing nanocomposites for wound healing; Professor Geoff Raisman, Chair of Neural Regeneration at the UCL Institute of Neurology, developed a pioneering cell transplantation treatment that helped a paralysed man walk again; Professor Linda Greensmith et al. developed a technique to artificially control muscles using light, with the potential to restore function to paralysed muscles; Dr Selina Wray was awarded £900,000 for a stem cell study to develop new treatments for dementia and was named Red Magazine’s Pioneer of the Year for her contribution to research; Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda announced that they would work with Dr Francesco Saverio Tedesco to research muscle disorders, in particular muscular dystrophy; Dr Max Yun shed light on how regeneration of human cells could be improved via salamander studies; and, finally, MedCity was launched — a partnership between UCL and other groups forming a world class biomedical research ‘golden triangle’, with UCL focusing on cell and gene therapy, as well as other areas.
In October this year UCL is due to launch a Blood and Transplant Research Unit for stem cell transplantation and immunotherapy, thanks to an award of £4.2 million from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). What else will 2015 hold for UCL?
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