{"112651":{"#nid":"112651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Two Georgia Tech Faculty Help to Define Emerging U.S Stem Cell Engineering Field through International Study","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobert M. Nerem, Ph.D., professor in mechanical engineering and Todd C.\nMcDevitt, Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech,\nwere invited by the lead sponsor, Semahat S.\nDemir Ph.D. of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take part in an\ninternational assessment of the stem cell engineering field.\u0026nbsp; Nerem will\nlead the panel and the findings of this study will result in recommendations to\nthe NSF and other funding agencies on future research directions and\ninvestments, recommendations on global initiatives with international partners\nand public workshops.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe study, which is being conducted by the World Technology Evaluation Center\n(WTEC), aims to assess the current status and the trends of stem cell\nengineering, and compare U.S. research and development programs with those\nabroad.\u0026nbsp; In addition to the NSF, the study is co-sponsored by the National\nInstitutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Standards and\nTechnology (NIST).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u201cTech is fortunate to have two out of the six experts on this panel,\u201d Nerem\nsaid. \u201cIt conveys Georgia Tech\u0027s nascent leadership in this relatively new and\nrapidly growing field and it is a great opportunity to provide input and\nleadership to our funding agencies and help our government understand where\nbest to invest.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPresident Obama, Congress and numerous states have recognized the value of stem\ncell research. Knowledge of research activities abroad will help to formulate\nand prioritize research directions to support President Obama\u0027s executive order\nfor expanding stem cell research so that it has the greatest potential for\nclinical and commercial applications.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nDozens of companies have recently entered the stem cell engineering field in\nsearch of clinical and commercial applications.\u0026nbsp; There is clear impetus\nfor the U.S. to support stem cell research and continue its leadership in the\nbasic sciences for the betterment of humankind.\u0026nbsp; A Congressional Research\nService report on stem cell research, which reviewed the political, moral and\nethical issues of the subject, indicated the strengthening interest and\neconomic commitment for stem cell research in the U.S. and the rest of the\nworld.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis study will use WTEC\u0027s methodology and an expert panel of six to conduct\nsite visits to overseas laboratories where work in stem cell engineering is\ndone. The panelists began their study in November, when they traveled to China\nand Japan, and will continue their evaluation this week in Europe.\u0026nbsp; These\nvisits, combined with the panel\u0027s own research experiences and assessments,\nwill help shape a report.\u0026nbsp; Like the previous WTEC studies on the tissue\nengineering and nanotechnology fields, this effort will act as a guide for U.S.\nresearch investments in this emerging field and will help identify key issues\nof critical importance to program officers. \u2028\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u201cThis is an excellent opportunity to learn what other countries are doing and\nbenchmark against other programs in order to position the U.S. to become\nleaders in stem cell research and development,\u201d said McDevitt, who is also an\nassociate professor in the Wallace H. Counter Department of Biomedical\nEngineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cManufacturing, clinical\ntrials and commercializing stem cell-based products, if done strategically, is\nsomething that could boost our nation\u2019s economy.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis week the scientists will travel to Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In addition to Nerem and McDevitt, other panelists include Jeanne\nLoring, Ph.D., The Scripps Institute; Sean Palecek, Ph.D., University of\nWisconsin; David Schaffer, Ph.D., University California at Berkeley; and Peter\nZandstra, Ph.D., University of Toronto.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWTEC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research institute, which is a spin-off of\nLoyola University Maryland.\u0026nbsp; Since 1989, WTEC has provided such assessment\nstudies in more than 60 fields of R\u0026amp;D under peer-reviewed grants from NSF.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech faculty invited by the National Science Foundation to take part in an international assessment of the Stem Cell Engineering field."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobert M. Nerem, Ph.D., professor in mechanical engineering and Todd C.\nMcDevitt, Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech,\nwere invited by the lead sponsor, Semahat S.\nDemir Ph.D. from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take part in an\ninternational assessment of the stem cell engineering field.\u0026nbsp; Nerem will\nlead the panel and the findings of this study will result in recommendations to\nthe NSF and other funding agencies on future research directions and\ninvestments, recommendations on global initiatives with international partners\nand public workshops.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech faculty invited by the National Science Foundation to take part in an international assessment of the Stem Cell Engineering field."}],"uid":"27224","created_gmt":"2012-02-27 16:16:04","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:44","author":"Megan McDevitt","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-03-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60434":{"id":"60434","type":"image","title":"Robert Nerem \u0026 Todd McDevitt","body":null,"created":"1449176267","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:47","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Robert Nerem \u0026 Todd McDevitt","file":{"fid":"191125","name":"tpb17928.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpb17928_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpb17928_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1599704,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpb17928_0.jpg?itok=qHDHZJYj"}},"70893":{"id":"70893","type":"image","title":"Robert Nerem","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"},"70131":{"id":"70131","type":"image","title":"Todd McDevitt","body":null,"created":"1449177288","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:48","changed":"1475894616","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:36"}},"media_ids":["60434","70893","70131"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.wtec.org\/SCE\/","title":"Study website"},{"url":"http:\/\/scec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Stem Cell Engineering Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/","title":"National Science Foundation"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nist.gov\/index.html","title":"National Institute of Standards and Technology"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"362","name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"3414","name":"Robert Nerem"},{"id":"167490","name":"SCEC"},{"id":"167603","name":"Stem Cell Engineering"},{"id":"760","name":"Todd McDevitt"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:colly.mitchell@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EColly Mitchell\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarketing \u0026amp; Events\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["colly.mitchell@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}