Regenerative Medicine Research – Virginia-Maryland College …

About our Program

Regenerative Medicine is a medical approach that seeks to restore both structure and function of tissues lost to injury, disease, or congenital defects.

Researchers at our Blacksburg and Leesburg facilities are conducting regenerative medicine research on topics ranging from blood vessels to tendon, ligament, and cartilage healing to traumatic brain injuries, and turning promising ideas into innovative treatments for a variety of conditions.

Our Equine Medical Center's Regenerative Medicine Service takes laboratory findings into the clinic where regenerative therapies promote healing in both horses and dogs.

The center is using a wide range of techniques such as extracting stem cells from bone marrow to regrow tissue, injecting concentrated levels of platelets from a patients blood to start the healing process, and performing surgery to stimulate the bodys own ability to regenerate.

Learn more about how regenerative medicine at our Equine Medical Center is helping horses and dogs.

Our Regenerative Medicine Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program (IGEP) at Virginia Tech provides students the opportunity to conduct specialized research in stem cell biology, biomaterials, modeling and experimental design, business and public policy, or science studies as related to regenerative medicine.

Our program trains scholars in the pursuit of translational research that will have a maximal impact on human and veterinary patient care and disease management.

Learn more about the Regenerative Medicine IGEP.

Our Stem Cell Initiative is an interdisciplinary program bringing researchers and clinicians together to explore potential benefits of stem cell research and therapies in both animal and human health. The goals of the initiative are to:

Our college entered into a research agreement with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in 2011 to form the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest Center for Veterinary Regenerative Medicine (CVRM).

Through the center, we are engaged in ongoing collaborations in translational regenerative medicine research to facilitate the application of cutting-edge treatments in both animal and human patients.

Jennifer G. Barrett, DVM, PhD Theodora Ayer Randolph Professor of Equine Surgery Research focus: Tendon, ligament, and cartilage healing, stem cell and platelet rich plasma therapies, and tissue regeneration.

Linda Dahlgren, DVM, PhD Associate Professor of Large Animal Surgery Research focus: Mesenchymal stem cells and tissue engineering in tendon/wound biology and healing.

Will Eyestone, PhD Research Associate Professor of Reproductive Biology & Biotechnology Research focus: Prion gene expression and disease resistance in murine and bovine models.

Jia-Qiang He, PhD Assistant Professor of Stem Cell Physiology Research focus: Controlled cardiac lineage differentiation of embryonic stem cells, iPSCs & adult cardiac stem cells; iPSC reprograming and characterization; Electrophysiological and functional maturity of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Bill Huckle, PhD Associate Professor of Cell Biology &Pharmacology Research focus: Angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in tumors and vascular diseases using murine models.

Michelle Theus, PhD Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology Research focus: Stem cell therapies for adult central nervous system repair following traumatic injury.

Learn more about the Theus laboratory.

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Regenerative Medicine Research - Virginia-Maryland College ...