TOP US EXPERT HONES SKILLS OF CLINICIANS IN TISSUE ENG’G & REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
A top professor in surgery and dentistry from the United States has enlightened clinicians in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
In his talk "Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine: From the Bench to the Bedside" before foreign and local delegates during the pre-congress seminar of the 12th Asian Congress on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Lung Center in Quezon City last November 9, Dr. Stephen E. Feinberg, professor of Surgery and Dentistry, associate chair of Research, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Michigan Health System encouraged the clinicians to develop their own basic, translational or clinical research projects.
Dr. Feinberg, who maintains his clinical activities and also has an active National Institute of Health-funded research program in tissue engineering, presented the basics of TE/RM to include growth factors/scaffolds/cells. The section on cells covered different types of somatic and stem cells. Healso discussed protocols for both basic and clinical research projects in TE/RM, utilizing examples from his own research on tissue engineering of human oral mucosa, on how basic knowledge learned from the laboratory will translate into enhanced patient care and the future role of TE/RM in reconstruction and regenerative therapy.
His main project is in the ex vivo development of a human fullthickness oral mucosal tissue that is suitable for intraoral grafting procedures. The long-term objective is to produce a "smart" transduced oral mucosal graft that will be used for reconstruction of major oral defects secondary to oncologic resection, traumatic events or developmental disturbances. The graft would act both as a material for reconstruction and as a repository for in situ transmucosal delivery of recombinant growth factors or cytokines. The goal is also to establish expanded cultures of an enriched population of oral mucosa progenitor/stem cells, using only physical and pharmacological means, under chemically defined conditions consistent with FDA guidelines that will be the foundation for our advances into cell replacement therapy. His next step is to perform a FDA-approved Phase I/II clinical trial through the UM General Clinical Research Center in 2006. Dr. Feinberg's other area of research is in the development of 3-dimensional biomimetic scaffolds for tissue engineering of bone and/or carti- lage for reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint.
Dr. Feinberg was among a roster of top-notch and distinguished resource persons from around the world graced the 12th ACOMS held from November 9- 12 at the Manila Hotel. It was hosted by the Philippine College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (PCOMS). This was the second time that PCOMS hosted the event which was first held in the country in 1989.