A prominent surgeon whose work focuses on growing new human cells, tissues and organs will be the keynote speaker at the 9th annual Research Forum, Oct. 10. Anthony Atala, MD, will address "Regenerative Medicine: Current Concepts and Changing Trends" at 11 a.m. in the auditorium of the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS). (His presentation also will be live streamed at http://bit.ly/Si0zSG. )

The Forum will begin at 9 a.m. with poster presentations by EACPHS students in the college's Student Commons. Student poster awards and faculty recognition will be acknowledged at noon following Atala's lecture. For further information, please contact Deepak Bhalla, associate dean for research, EACPHS, 313/5772980 or email: ad6268@wayne.edu.

Atala is the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the W. H. Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, N.C. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the U.S. Congress funded Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, bestowed on a living American working on a discovery that will significantly affect society; the World Technology Award in Health and Medicine, presented to individuals achieving significant, lasting progress; the Samuel D. Gross Prize, awarded every five years to a national leading surgical researcher by the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery; the Barringer Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons; and the Gold Cystoscope award from the American Urological Association for advances in the field.

His other honors include election in 2011 to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and recognition by Scientific American as a Medical Treatments Leader of the Year for his contributions to the fields of cell, tissue and organ regeneration. In 2007, Atala's work was listed as Time Magazine's top 10 medical breakthroughs of the year, and as Discover Magazine`s Number 1 Top Science Story of the Year in the field of medicine. A Time Magazine poll ranked Atala as the 56th most influential person of the year in 2007. In 2009 he was featured in U.S. News & World Report as one of 14 Pioneers of Medical Progress in the 21st Century, and his work in 2010 was listed by Smithsonian Magazine as one of 40 things to know about the next 40 years. His work was listed in the Huffington Post as one of 18 great ideas of 2011, and in Time Magazine as one of the top 5 medical breakthroughs of the year.

Atala has led or served several national professional and government committees, including the National Institutes of Health working group on Cells and Developmental Biology, the National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium, and the National Cancer Institute's Advisory Board. He heads a team of approximately 300 physicians and researchers. Ten applications of technologies developed in Dr. Atala's laboratory have been used clinically. He is the editor of twelve books and has published more than 300 journal articles. He has applied for or received over 200 national and international patents.

Atala serves in various capacities on the editorial boards of many journals. He is the editor-in-chief of three prestigious journals and associate editor of four other journals. He also serves as the executive board member, section editor or member of the editorial board on more than a dozen journals in the areas of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and urology.

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, a founding college of Wayne State University, is committed to advancing the health and well-being of society through the preparation of highly skilled health care practitioners, and through research to improve health care practices and treatment from the urban to global levels.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 31,000 students.

September 28, 2012

Media Contact: Kathleen J. Karas, APR
Phone: (313) 577-2312
Email: kkaras@wayne.edu
Website: cphs.wayne.edu