Tissue Engineering Workshop To Consider Commercialization Opportunities

Biomedical engineers, biomaterials researchers and medical device developers are among those who can benefit from a one-day tissue engineering workshop at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., on Nov. 22.

The workshop, co-sponsored by NIST's Advanced Technology Program and Biotechnology Division, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Science Foundation, will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. that day in NIST's Green Auditorium of the Administration Building.

Speakers will review recent research and development advances in tissue engineering and their application to biomedical products. Tissue engineering, a rapidly growing discipline, holds many innovative approaches to manufacturing health-related products.

A principal goal of this workshop is to assess current and future prospects for commercialization of tissue engineering technology. The workshop goal reflects the mission of NIST's Advanced Technology Program, which provides cost-shared awards to industry to develop high-risk technologies that can enable significant commercial progress.

Invited speakers will discuss basic science and engineering necessary for the development of products based on tissue engineering approaches. An afternoon panel discussion will focus on key issues such as research needs and progress, product development and testing, clinical impact, and scientific aspects of regulatory issues.

Speakers include: Eugene Bell, president and chief executive officer, Tissue Engineering Inc., and professor emeritus of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; William Click, president and scientific director, Biohybrid Technologies Inc.; Pierre Galletti, Professor of Medical Science, Brown University; Gail Naughton, vice president and chief executive officer, Advanced Tissue Sciences; and Robert Langer, professor of chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Panel members will be: Robert Nerem, Parker H. Pettit Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; Patrick Aebischer, Vaudois University Hospital Center, Lausanne, Switzerland; Michael Lysaght, vice president, CytoTherapeutics Inc.; Harold Alexander, director, Department of Bioengineering, and professor of orthopedic surgery, Hospital for Joint Disease, Orthopedic Institute, New York University Medical Center; and Kiki Hellman, senior scientist and coordinator for biotechnology, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration.

Registration for the workshop is $50 and includes coffee breaks, lunch and workshop materials. For registration information, contact Lori Phillips, B116 Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-4513, fax: (301) 948-2067.

As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.