The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is a leader in the field of bioscience and regenerative medicine. Our scientists are frequently honored with awards in the field of regenerative medicine and beyond. Details about some of their most notable achievements are described below. WFIRM is also frequently featured in national and international media.
Media interested in doing stories on the institute's science endeavors should contact Lillian Johnson at comm-wfirm@wakehealth.edu.
Highlighted New Stories
New Master’s Degree Prepares Future Regenmed Scientists, Business Leaders.
Innovation Accelerator Launches to Support Commercialization for Regenerative Medicine Hub.
The Institute for Regenerative Medicine's $36 million Defense Threat Reduction Agency award for virus research was featured by the Winston-Salem Journal and WFDD.
Featured Research News
WFIRM Bioprinting Research Makes History When It Soars to the ISS
New Injectable Cell Therapy Developed by WFIRM Scientists Could Resolve Osteoarthritis
Former Senior Level Department of Defense Official Joins RegenMed Hub
Injectable Cell Therapy Could Someday Treat Patients with Kidney Disease First-in-Human Study
New Research Shows Drug Used to Treat Neuromuscular Weakness Could Counter Botulism
Human Urine-derived Stem Cells Have Robust Regenerative Potential
WFIRM Researchers Create Specific Cancer Organoid System to Study Bacterial Effects on Immunotherapy
DNA mutations caused by gene editing reduced with new fusion method developed at WFIRM
WFIRM Scientists Sweep First, Second Place in NASA Tissue Engineering Challenge
Stem Cell Therapy Shows Potential to Heal Intestinal Disease in Premature Infants
WFIRM scientists are tackling necrotizing enterocolitis with a human placental-derived stem cell (hPSC) therapy strategy that is showing promising results.
You are not a cat, but a cat could someday help treat your chronic kidney disease
Greensboro-based Piedmont Animal Health, which develops, licenses and markets animal-health therapeutics, has teamed up with WFIRM to develop a novel therapy targeting the progressive and debilitating condition.
Neuronal delivery of antibodies has therapeutic effects in animal models of botulism
WFIRM's Patrick McNutt, PhD, was part of one of the research teams that used genetic engineering techniques to make tweaks to the natural botulinum toxin protein in a study covered by Science Translational Medicine.
WFIRM Scientists Create Hybrid Tissue Construct for Cartilage Regeneration
November 2020
Scientists Turn Detective to Further Gene Therapy Research
August 2020
Organoids Help Bridge Gap Between Laboratory Study and Animal Modeling of Disease
August 2020
Chemotherapy for Rare Cancer Fine-Tuned with Organoids
August 2020
Bioprinted Skin Recapitulates Normal Collagen – Featured on cover of Tissue Engineering Part A
August 2020
A New Cell and Gene Therapy Approach to Treat Common Bleeding Disorder
July 2020
Inflammation Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction Studied in Organoids
July 2020
WFIRM Scientists Prove Bioengineered Uteri Support Pregnancy
June 2020
Neural Cells Speed up Function in 3D Bioprinted Skeletal Muscle Constructs
February 2020
Urine-derived Stem Cells May Prove Therapeutic for Kidney Failure
January 2020
Changing Cancer Care, One Organoid at a Time
January 2020
WFIRM Scientists Push Bioprinting Capability Forward
December 2019
Understanding Role of Perinatal Cells as Potential Therapy for Autoimmune Disorders
December 2019
WFIRM Scientists Create Primitive Circulatory System with Chip Platform Model
November 2019
Gene Editing Tool Gets Sharpened by WFIRM Team
September 2019
Amnion Membrane-derived Wound Healing Products Prove Translational Value
August 2019
3D Ovarian Cell Constructs Promote Stable Hormone Secretion
August 2019
Erectile Function Restored with Cell Therapy in Pre-Clinical Model
July 2019
Researchers Investigate Molecular Basis of Fecal Loading in GI-symptomatic Children with Autism
July 2019
Implanted Muscle Fiber Fragments Could Help Heal Injuries, Treat Urinary Incontinence
June 2019
Unique Lung Cancer Model System Developed by WFIRM Scientists
May 2019
Scientists Develop Gel-based Delivery System for Stem Cell-derived Factors to Improve Kidney Regeneration
May 2019
Vascularized Kidney Tissue Engineered by WFIRM Scientists
May 2019
Cell Therapy Could Replace Need for Kidney Transplants
March 2019
Mobile Bedside Bioprinter Can Heal Wounds
February 2019
Scientists sharpen their molecular scissors and expand the gene-editing toolbox
February 2019
Researchers Develop First Ever Model for Patient-Specific Treatment of Appendix Cancer
January 2019
A Trojan Horse Delivery Method for miRNA-enriched Extracellular Vesicles
December 2018
Facial Skin Injury Could be Healed with Bioengineered BioMask
November 2018
Organoids Used to Study Role of Small RNA Molecule in Liver Disease
October 2018
Urine: Flush with Potential Cells
September 2018
Scientists Work to Establish Measurement Standards for Bioinks
September 2018
Space Travel Carries Risks to Immune System Health
August 2018
Zika Virus Studied in Human Testicular Organoid
August 2018
Researchers Create Advanced Brain Organoid to Model Strokes, Screen Drugs
July 2018
General News
Steven R. Bauer Joins RegenMed Development Organization
December 2, 2022
WFIRM Combines Organoids, Artificial Intelligence to Study Viral Threats
June 27, 2022
Pediatric urologist Dr. Anthony Atala to receive 2022 Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons for pioneering work in regenerative medicine
American College of Surgeons - June 2022
Generating a Future - Winston-Salem leverages identity as hub of regenerative medicine
Triad Business Journal - March 2022
Growing an organ from Scratch? More realistic than you might think.
Triad Business Journal - March 2022
2019 Institute Awards Roundup
HHS Awards Major Funding Award to WFIRM
October 2019
2019 Urology Care Foundation Awardee of Distinction
Anthony Atala, MD, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the W.H. Boyce Professor and Chair of Urology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, will receive the John W. Duckett, Jr., MD, Pediatric Urology Research Excellence Award. Established in 2009, this award honors a physician-scientist or researcher for their outstanding work in pediatric urology. Dr. Atala was nominated by the Societies for Pediatric Urology for this award, and was selected by a review committee. The award is provided through a fund established by Mrs. Peggy Duckett-Drach and the Society for Pediatric Urology. The award will be presented May 4 at the American Urological Association (AUA) Meeting in Chicago.
Dr. Atala Ranked Top 20 Translational Researcher by Nature Biotechnology
Cystic Fibrosis Researcher at WFIRM Earns Funding Support
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s Sean Murphy, PhD, has been awarded three grants totaling almost a half million dollars to support cystic fibrosis research efforts.
Drs. Graca Almeida Porada and Chris Porada Receive R01 Grant
Dr. Hooman Sadri Ardekani earned Research Scholar award from the AUA Leadership Program
Dr. Khalil Bitars Lab Research Recipient of Multiple Awards
NSF Grant Recognizes Successful WFIRM Summer Scholars Program
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to engage undergraduate students in research at the interface of engineering and biology in challenging areas of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) each summer.
WFIRM Team Member Honored by Alma Mater
Cara Clouse, DVM, was announced as a 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award winner by the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She will be recognized for her research work at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine during the Commencement and Hooding ceremonies to be held May 11, 2019.
WFIRM Researchers Featured in Tissue Engineering Journal
The research of PhD students Mahesh Devarasetty and Kyle Cowdrick, and Drs. Aleksander Skardal, Frank Marini and Shay Soker is featured on the front cover of Tissue Engineering Part A for October 2017
WFIRM Scientists Study Space Radiation Health Effects to Keep Astronauts Safe
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) has been selected by NASA to lead a multi-institutional project to better understand the health risks astronauts face from exposure to galactic cosmic ray (GCR) and solar energetic particle (SEP) radiation that occurs from long-duration missions in deep space and to develop countermeasures to keep astronauts safe.
Dr. Anthony Atala, MD Honored as 2016 Innovator of the Year by R&D Magazine
Bioprinting Team Receives 2017 Piedmont Triad Biotechnology Research and Development Excellence Award at Triad BioNight
Dr. Anthony Atala Awarded 2016 Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award in Life Sciences
WFIRM Researchers Featured in Tissue Engineering Journal
The research of PhD students Mahesh Devarasetty and Kyle Cowdrick, and Drs. Aleksander Skardal, Frank Marini and Shay Soker is featured on the front cover of Tissue Engineering Part A for October 2017
WFIRM Scientists Study Space Radiation Health Effects to Keep Astronauts Safe
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) has been selected by NASA to lead a multi-institutional project to better understand the health risks astronauts face from exposure to galactic cosmic ray (GCR) and solar energetic particle (SEP) radiation that occurs from long-duration missions in deep space and to develop countermeasures to keep astronauts safe.
Dr. Anthony Atala, MD Honored as 2016 Innovator of the Year by R&D Magazine
Bioprinting Team Receives 2017 Piedmont Triad Biotechnology Research and Development Excellence Award at Triad BioNight
Dr. Anthony Atala Awarded 2016 Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award in Life Sciences
Media Placements
Many media outlets covered the Institute’s first and second place win in the NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge, including United Press International. You can also read more about it from NASA. (June 2021)
The Institute’s announcement about the RegeneratOR Test Bed, a collaborative effort to accelerate the growth of start-ups as well as mid-to-large-sized companies working in a range of technologies, was featured by the Winston-Salem Journal, Triad Business Journal and WFDD. (June 2021)
The Institute was highlighted in this Forbes column about the dawn of a new era of regenerative medicine. (July 2021)
A WFIRM research group focusing its efforts on understanding the physics of tissue engineering and the underlying science of bioprinting was featured in this an IEEE Pulse article on efforts to improve key steps in the bioprinting process. (August 2021)
Institute Director Anthony Atala, MD, was featured in an Oracle Health Sciences story about the WFIRM-led consortium that Oracle has joined with the goal of developing AI/machine learning capabilities to identify drugs that could be toxic to humans, Jan. 2021.
Faculty member Patrick McNutt, PhD, was part of one of the research teams that used genetic engineering techniques to make tweaks to the natural botulinum toxin protein in a study covered by Science , and he was quoted by IFLscience.com and other outlets about their findings, Jan. 2021.
WFIRM director Anthony Atala, M.D., discussed the bioengineered uteri research project that was featured on the November cover of Nature Biotechnology journal with the “Bio Eats World” podcast , Dec. 2020.
3D printed knee cartilage research was featured by Interesting Engineering and 3Dprintingprogress.com with comments from faculty member Sang Jin Lee, PhD, Nov. 2020.
Research Associate Carlos Kengla, PhD, discussed regenerative medicine on the Big Problems Small Solution s podcast, Oct. 2020
WFIRM 3D bioprinter research is included in a story from ZDnet.com , Sept. 2020.
Scripps National News covered the Institute’s work to create miniature versions of organs to test drugs for COVID-19 in July 2020.
3D printed skin research was featured by Dermatology Advisor and MD/PhD candidate and research associate Adam Jorgensen was interviewed, July 2020.
Research about bioengineered uteri was covered by BBC’s Science Focus magazine, June 2020.
S&P Global Market Intelligence covered the Institute’s work to create miniature versions of organs to test drugs for COVID-19, May 2020.
Philanthropy Magazine interviewed Institute Director Anthony Atala, MD, about COVID-19 and related work in the lab, May 2020.
The microscopic model of the human body research was highlighted by 3D Printing Industry , March 2020.
IFLScience highlighted human “body-on-a-chip” research, March 2020.
Research about neural cells speeding up function in 3D bioprinted skeletal muscle constructs was featured by Today Headline , Feb. 2020.
The Triad Business Journal and the Winston-Salem Journal report on a federal grant to investigate treatments from chemical injuries to the lungs, Oct. 2019.
Institute Director Anthony Atala, MD, was quoted in this NBC Mach story about functional heart tissue developed by Harvard researchers, Sept. 2019.
Institute bioprinting capability was referenced in this New York Times opinion piece, Aug. 2019.
The Institute, along with Innovation Quarter, was featured in American Airline’s American Way Magazine , July 2019.
The Institute was highlighted in this New York Times article about growth of small metropolitan cities, July 2019.
Science Daily quoted faculty member Sean Murphy, PhD, about a mobile bedside bioprinter, Feb. 2019.