News

October 7, 2020

Researchers develop a minimally invasive biodegradable microneedle patch as a novel delivery mode for gene therapy applications

(LOS ANGELES) - There is great potential in gene therapy for treating certain types of cancer and genetic defects, immunological diseases, wounds and infections. The therapies work by delivering genes into the patients' cells, which then produce therapeutic proteins to treat the affliction.

When determining the method of delivery for these genes, there are advantages to choosing a local, rather than systemic delivery of the genetic material. With systemic delivery, there is the possibility of unwanted tissue accumulation or of the genetic material becoming unstable. It is also advantageous to target the skin as a site for local delivery, as it is easily accessible and contains fluid and lymph vessels, as well as immune cells upon which the genetic material can act to initiate treatment.

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September 16, 2020

Researchers find their computer-tailored education system, “Your Path to Transplant” increases knowledge and readiness to pursue kidney transplant  

(LOS ANGELES) – Patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease have to go to a dialysis center for hours at a time, several times a week for the rest of their lives. Patients on dialysis have strict dietary restrictions, and have difficulty maintaining a job or school with all of the hours that are spent at the dialysis center each week. Often, dialysis is the main treatment doctors tell patients about, so patients go along with it. However, a living donor kidney transplant is the most effective treatment for end-stage renal disease.  Past research has shown that doctors typically spend about a half an hour giving patients  large quantities of information all at once about transplantation, which causes patients to become overwhelmed with the decision.  

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September 9, 2020

Newly developed bioink enhances the ability of implanted cells to grow and regenerate new tissue 

(LOS ANGELES) – Engineering new tissues can be used to alleviate shortages of organs in transplantation, as well as to develop physiological models for drug discovery applications. One of the emerging approaches to building tissues is through 3D Printing, where cells and materials can be combined to make inks that can generate tissue structures. One of the limitations for making new tissues is that they require oxygen to survive. This oxygen is delivered through blood vessels, which take a few days to develop in a transplanted tissue.  

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September 4, 2020

Researchers describe ways to achieve optimal patient advocacy for kidney recipients and donors during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond 

(LOS ANGELES) – In a newly published paper, the authors first paint the vision of what optimal patient advocacy can do to overcome the challenges described by kidney transplant patients and donors, and then describe how to make that vision a reality, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Amy Waterman, Deputy Director at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation and leader of the Transplant Research and Education Center (TREC), assembled a panel of patients to learn their priorities for their care during this unprecedented time. 

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August 18, 2020

(LOS ANGELES) – The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) is pleased to welcome Maurizio Vecchione as its Chief Innovation Officer.  Maurizio has spent the last 30 years at the forefront of global and public health, focusing on innovation to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. From 2014 until 2020, he was the Executive Vice President for Global Good and Research at Intellectual Ventures (IV), where he oversaw collaboration with Bill Gates to invent and deploy technology to address some of humanity’s most daunting challenges.

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August 5, 2020

A recent study published in the Journal of Biomedical Semantics performed an analysis and ranking of the most prominent, influential and prolific authors in the rapidly expanding field of 3D bioprinting.  The findings revealed that Ali Khademhosseini, Ph.D., of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, ranked as the second-most prolific author in terms of productivity, citation impact, and collaborative networking. 

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July 20, 2020

From the burgeoning field of biomedical engineering and the ever-present need to provide solutions for medical problems, a new resource has been created that joins engineering technologies with biological research and medicine.  A comprehensive new book entitled “Interfacing Bioelectronics and Biomedical Sensing,” and co-edited by Ali Khademhosseini of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Hung Cao of UC Irvine, Todd Coleman of UC San Diego and Tzung Hsiai from UCLA, has been recently published by Springer Nature.   

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July 13, 2020

Component of tissue is shown to limit the amount of scarring after heart attack. 

(LOS ANGELES) –  When a person has a heart attack, the person’s coronary artery is blocked, cutting off the flow of blood and oxygen to that portion of the person’s heart.  The surrounding heart muscle may be damaged to an extent depending on the size of the blocked area and the time between the attack and treatment. Upon recovery, the heart muscle starts to heal, and like a skin wound, it may form a scar.  The size and location of the scar can vary greatly, and there is a possibility to develop additional complications or even death. 

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