HOLLISTON, Mass., Nov. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, Inc. ("HART") (NASDAQ: HART), a biotechnology company developing bioengineered organs for life-threatening conditions, announced today that Joseph P. (Jay) Vacanti, M.D., a surgeon and pioneering scientist in the field of tissue engineering, has agreed to serve as Chairman of HART's newly launched Scientific Advisory Board. Final details of Dr. Vacanti's appointment are subject to approval by Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners Healthcare, a non-profit healthcare system and leader in biomedical research founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. The Advisory Board's role is to provide support and guidance for HART's research and development programs. The Company expects to add three to five additional members to the Advisory Board over the next twelve to eighteen months.
Dr. Vacanti commented, "I have been involved in the field of tissue engineering since its inception due to the potential to replace or regenerate tissue or organs and re-establish normal function. I was attracted to HART because of the very significant work they have done in the field of regenerative medicine. Having gotten to know the team and their work more closely, I am very excited to spearhead the formation of their Scientific Advisory Board as Chairman. I look forward to contributing to HART's mission of driving further advances in regenerative organ development and translating their product candidates to the clinic."
HART's CEO, Jim McGorry, commented, "As one of the world's most accomplished and respected physicians in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, Dr. Vacanti is a tremendous addition to the HART team, and we are excited that he has assumed the leadership of our Scientific Advisory Board. Jay's passion and his research and surgical experience will greatly complement our technology and development programs."
About Dr. Vacanti
Dr. Vacanti has worked in the field of tissue engineering since its beginnings in the early 1980's - a mission that stems from his long-held interest in solving the problem of organ shortages. He has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School since 1974; has authored over 320 original reports, 69 book chapters, 54 reviews and over 473 abstracts. Dr. Vacanti has 81 patents or patents pending in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Dr. Vacanti's current medical affiliations include:
Over the past 15 years, Dr. Vacanti has researched the creation of complete vascular networks as part of implantable tissue engineered devices that allow the fabrication of large, complex living structures such as vital organs or extremities. Dr. Vacanti was a founding co-president of what is now the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) with 5,000 active members from 80 countries. He was also founding senior editor of "Tissue Engineering," a journal serving TERMIS members, 1,700 libraries in 20 countries and provided free online to 106 developing nations.
Dr. Vacanti earned his Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Creighton University in 1970, his MD, with high distinction, from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, and an MS from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vacanti trained in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital, Boston, and in Transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh.
He received the Thomas G. Sheen Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, recognition from the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine for contributions in the area of tissue replacement, the James Bartlett Brown Award from the Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the Clemson Award from the Society for Biomaterials. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2009, Dr. Vacanti's innovation was included in the book, "1001 Inventions That Changed The World", by Jack Challoner. He is the 2009 recipient of the American Surgical Association's Flance-Karl Award, presented to surgeons who have made a seminal contribution in basic laboratory research with applications for clinical surgery. Dr. Vacanti is a 2011 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate in the field of physiology/medicine, and in June 2015 he received The Jacobson Innovation Award from the American College of Surgeons.
About HART: (www.hartregen.com)
Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology (HART) makes bioengineered organs for life-threatening conditions. Our technology platform is to be used to restore the function of airways, principally the trachea and bronchus, and the esophagus. Our HART-Trachea technology has been used successfully in five human trachea transplants approved under compassionate use exemptions, but none of our products are yet approved for marketing by a government regulatory authority. HART is completing further large animal studies to refine our technology platform with the goal of filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate clinical trials for one of our three organ applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during 2016.
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SOURCE Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology Inc
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