Regenerative medicine is commonly defined as creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace body parts whose function has been compromised by age, disease, trauma, or congenital defects. Advances in this field over the past decade have been linked to the increased interdisciplinary communication among materials scientists, cell biologists and clinicians. New tissue scaffolds increasingly include sophisticated biochemical cues. Many stem cell-based therapies require biomaterials-based scaffolds for optimal cell delivery. The merging of disciplines necessary for this type of research is the core of regenerative medicine, an approach that will have a revolutionary impact on our health care system.

To deliver unique research experiences built around special combinations of expertise, this program draws its faculty from six institutions. Each faculty member is a leading researcher in his or her own field. Many of them are currently collaborating, and all are eager to co-mentor new trainees in individualized research projects at the frontiers of regenerative medicine.