Anthony Atala, M.D.
Scientific Founder and Chairman of the Tengion Scientific Advisory Board
Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the William Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Dr. Atala is also a renowned surgeon, researcher and expert on tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and stem cell biology. His work focuses on growing and expanding new human tissues and organs to repair or replace diseased tissues or organs.
Dr. Atala is the Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the William Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Atala currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tissue Engineering Society and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bladder Foundation. He has also led or served several national professional and government committees, including the National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium. Dr. Atala has received numerous awards and honors, including the U.S.-Congress-funded Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, bestowed on a living American who is currently working on a discovery that will significantly affect society, and the Scientific American, Research Leader Award, for his contributions to tissue and organ regeneration.
Dr. Atala heads a team of 80 physicians and researchers. Ten applications of technologies developed by Dr. Atala have been used clinically. Dr. Atala serves on the Editorial Board of 8 medical journals, and is an Editor-in-Chief or Senior Editor of 6, including the journal Rejuvenation Research. He is the editor of five books, has published more than 250 journal articles or book chapters, and has applied for or received over 100 national and international patents.Back to top
Victor J. Dzau, M.D.
Cardiovascular Vice Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board
Chancellor, Health Affairs, Duke University & President & CEO Duke University Health System
Dr. Dzau became chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System on July 1, 2004. Dr. Dzau most recently served as the Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic (Medicine) at Harvard Medical School, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Physician-in-Chief and Director of Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Dr. Dzau's academic interests are in cardiovascular translational research and mission-based education. His laboratory has studied the molecular and genetic mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and applied genomic and gene transfer technologies to develop novel therapeutic approaches. A genetically modified coronary bypass graft developed by Dr. Dzau is being evaluated in a clinical trial. The recipient of many awards and honors, he received the first Hatter Award from the Medical Research Council of South Africa in 2000. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious Gustav Nylin Medal from the Swedish Royal College of Medicine and the Swedish Cardiology Society, and the Novartis Award for Hypertension Research of the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Dzau sits on numerous committees and advisory boards, including the Executive Committee of The Academy at Harvard Medical School (of which he is a founding member) and the boards of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Clinical Research Institute. He has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Science (USA) and the European Academy of Science and Arts. Previous Chairman of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee, he now sits on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the NIH. In 1999, he became Editor-in-Chief for the American Physiological Society's new journal, Physiological Genomics. A founding member of the Society of Vascular Medicine and Biology, Dr. Dzau was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Medicine and Biology. After receiving his MD from McGill University in Montreal, Dr. Dzau underwent postgraduate training at Harvard Medical School.
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Alan B. Retik, M.D.
Urogenital Vice Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board
Chief of Pediatric Urology & Surgeon in Chief, Children's Hospital Boston
Dr. Retik has been Chief of Pediatric Urology for 27 years at Children's Hospital Boston and is also Surgeon-in-Chief. Dr. Retik received a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.D. from Cornell Medical School. He trained at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He also worked as a research fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph E. Murray, recipient of the Nobel prize in medicine for his primary work in kidney transplantation. Dr. Retik was also involved in cancer research for two years at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda Maryland. Dr. Retik undertook further specialization in pediatric urologic surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in London. Dr. Retik has held numerous leadership positions including Chairman of the Section on Urology of the American Academy of Pediatrics, President of the Society for Pediatric Urology of the American Urological Association, and President of the New England Section of the American Urological Association. He has been a visiting professor at more than 100 institutions nationally and internationally. His bibliography comprises over 350 contributions to scientific literature, including editorship of several texts. He has been one of the primary editors of the last three editions of Campbell's Urology. In recognition of his academic achievements and leadership qualities, he was promoted to the rank of Professor of Surgery (Urology) by Harvard Medical School in 1981. He has been awarded the Pediatric Urology Medal from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Ferdinand C. Valentine Medal from the New York Academy of Medicine.
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Steve Badylak, M.D., Ph.D., D.V.M.
Professor and Director of Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Badylak is currently a research professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering within the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1976, he received his D.V.M. from Purdue University and he completed his M.S. in Clinical Pathology from Purdue University in 1978. Dr. Badylak also holds a Ph.D. in Anatomic Pathology from Purdue University (1981) and graduated with highest honors with a M.D. from Indiana University Medical School in 1985. Prior to his post graduate training, Dr. Badylak practiced veterinary medicine at a mixed animal practice in Glenwood, Illinois and in Hobart, Indiana. Dr. Badylak began his academic career at Purdue University as an Assistant Research Scholar at the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center in 1983. At Purdue University, Dr. Badylak held a variety of positions including Postdoctoral Research Associate (1985), Associate Research Scholar (1988) and the Director of the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center from (1993-1998). Dr. Badylak held a dual appointment as an Associate Professor within the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology and also served as the Head Team Physician for the Athletic Department for 16 years (1985-2001). Most recently, Dr. Badylak served as Senior Research Scientist within the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Badylak has either chaired or been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board to several major medical device companies including DePuy, Cook Biotech, Genesis Orthopaedics, Sentron Medical Ventures, and ACell.
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Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.
Professor of Bioethics and Chair of the Dept of Medical Ethics / Director of Center of Bioethics, University Of Pennsylvania
Dr. Caplan is a Professor of Bioethics and Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and the Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Prior to coming to Penn in 1994, Dr. Caplan taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. He was the Associate Director of the Hastings Center from 1984-1987. Caplan is the author or editor of twenty-five books and over 500 papers in refereed journals of medicine, science, philosophy, bioethics and health policy. He writes a regular column on bioethics for MSNBC.com. He is a frequent guest and commentator on National Public Radio, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and many other media outlets. He has served on a number of national and international committees including as the Chair of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations on Human Cloning, the Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Department of Health and Human Services on Blood Safety and Availability, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses, the special advisory committee to the International Olympic Committee on genetics and gene therapy, the American Chemistry Council and the special advisory panel to the National Institutes of Mental Health on human experimentation on vulnerable subjects. He is a member of Dupont's biotechnology advisory panel and has consulted with many corporations and consumer organizations. Dr. Caplan is the recipient of many awards and honors including the McGovern Medal of the American Medical Writers Association, Person of the Year-2001 from USA Today, one of the fifty most influential people in American health care by Modern Health Care magazine and one of the ten most influential people in America in biotechnology by the National Journal. He holds six honorary degrees from colleges and medical schools. He is a fellow of the Hastings Center, the NY Academy of Medicine, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Born in Boston, Caplan did his undergraduate work at Brandeis University, and did his graduate work at Columbia University where he received a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science in 1979.
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Robert Nerem, Ph.D.
Director, Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience, Georgia Tech University
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Buddy Ratner, Ph.D.
Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, University of Washington
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Alan J. Russell, Ph.D.
Director, McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Russell is the Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/UPMC Health System. He is also a Professor of Chemical Engineering and of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering and is the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI). Dr. Russell received his baccalaureate degree in Biochemistry and Applied Molecular Biology from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology ( United Kingdom) in 1984 and his doctorate in Biological Chemistry from Imperial College, the University of London, in 1987. After spending two years (1987 - 1989) as a NATO Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Alexander Klibanov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Russell joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1989. In 1995 he became Nikolas DeCecco Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. In 1999 Dr. Russell co-founded a now successful biotechnology company, Agentase LLC, and he became Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative. In 2001 Dr. Russell became the Founding Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery and was elected as a founding Governor of the Tissue Engineering Society International. Dr. Russell is currently President-Elect of the Tissue Engineering Society international.
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Mark P. Schoenberg, M.D.
Professor & Director of Urologic Oncology, Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins
Dr. Schoenberg has been Director of Urologic Oncology at the Brady Urological Institute at The Johns Hopkins Hospital since 1998. He also serves as Professor of Urology and Oncology. Dr. Schoenberg's main academic focus and area of clinical activity is the treatment of patients with bladder cancer. Dr. Schoenberg is involved in both basic and clinical research on the detection and management of patients with all forms of bladder cancer. His particular areas of clinical interest are the surgical treatment of invasive tumors and lower urinary tract reconstruction in both male and female patients. Dr. Schoenberg is the author or co-author of nine books and ninety journal articles. Since 2003, he has been Senior Editor of Seminars in Urologic Oncology. After receiving his MD from the University of Texas, Dr. Schoenberg underwent postgraduate training at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins.
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William D. Schwieterman, M.D.
President & Founder, Access Bio
Dr. Schwieterman is President and Founder of Tekgenics Inc., a consultancy company that provides clinical, regulatory, and general scientific advice to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Dr. Schwieterman is an expert in the design of clinical trials for a wide range of therapeutic agents, including in the areas of regenerative medicine and tissue repair. Prior to his work at Tekgenics, Dr. Schwieterman served for ten years at the FDA (CBER) where he was a senior supervisor overseeing product development for numerous biological therapies. He was instrumental at FDA in generating one of the first guidance documents for sponsors of manipulated autologous structural cell therapies, and helped lay the foundation at FDA for how these products were to be both regulated and reviewed. He also supervised the development of biological therapies for the treatment of organ transplantation, skin replacement, and regenerative nasal repair, in addition to other work overseeing the development of new therapies for cytokines, gene therapy, and monoclonal antibodies for dozens of different diseases. Prior to joining FDA Dr. Schwieterman was a senior staff fellow at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (NIAMS) at NIH, where he did both scientific and clinical work in the area of systemic lupus erythematosus, and a fellow at the National Cancer Institute where he worked to advance the understanding of immunodeficiency disorders. He is a member of the American College of Rheumatology and the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society. He is trained in Rheumatology (NIAMS) and boarded in Internal Medicine (Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City). Dr. Schwieterman received both his M.D. and B.S. from the University of Cincinnati.
Prediman K. (PK) Shah, M.D.
Director, Division of Cardiology & the Atherosclerosis Research Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Professor of Medicine, Univ. of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine.
Dr. Shah is Director of the Division of Cardiology and the Atherosclerosis Research Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he holds the Shapell and Webb Family Endowed Chair in Cardiology. Dr. Shah is also Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine.
An internationally renowned cardiologist, clinician-teacher and consultant, Dr. Shah is also a highly innovative clinical and basic researcher. He has made numerous important scientific contributions in the area of atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndromes. His current research focus includes understanding the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis and restenosis and the development and testing of novel anti-atherogenic and anti-restenotic strategies. His work has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and various philanthropic foundations. His scientific work demonstrating the marked protective effects of a mutant gene found in a small number of inhabitants from Limone-sul-Garda, Italy, (apo A-Imilano) against atherosclerosis has generated considerable interest and was the subject of two, one-hour segments on "60 Minutes" in 1994 and 1995. This new gene-based therapy is currently undergoing clinical testing in the US on the basis of work done by Dr Shah in his animal laboratory. Dr. Shah and his colleagues have also developed a new vaccine against plaque buildup and demonstrated its effectiveness in preventing plaque buildup in animal models. This vaccine is likley to undergo human testing in the near future. Dr Shah's many important scientific contributions have improved the understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of coronary syndromes.
Dr. Shah has published over 250 scientific papers and abstracts and has lectured all over the world as a visiting professor. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journals Circulation, American Journal of Cardiology, International Journal of Heart Failure, Indian Heart Journal, Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine, Current Cardiology Reports and Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Dr. Shah received his medical degree from Medical College in Kashmir, India. He completed his internships at SMHS Hospital of Medical College and at Mount Sinai Hospital of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Dr. Shah completed residencies in internal medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Mount Sinai Hospital of the University of Wisconsin and at Montefiore Hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. He then completed his fellowship in cardiology at Montefiore Hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his research fellowship in cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
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