Studies in Translational Regenerative Medicine

NIH T32 NIBIB Grant #1T32EB014836-01A1

Program Director: Anthony Atala, MD
Program Faculty Research Mentors

Regenerative medicine encompasses both tissue engineering and self-healing, and the discipline has emerged as a hugely valuable one with immense ramifications for improving human health. The Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) has a unique infrastructure that provides facilities and expertise for translational studies, from basic preclinical findings all the way through Phase 2 clinical trials. Through a training grant funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), WFIRM offers traditional didactic course work, a variety of WFIRM-wide training activities, participation in cutting-edge research projects, grant writing, and scientific presentations, and exposure to ethical issues in regenerative medicine.

The program includes six focused research areas:

  1. Cardiovascular regeneration
  2. Urology
  3. Gastrointestinal/endocrinology (liver, pancreas, ovary)
  4. Musculoskeletal
  5. Stem cells/cell therapy
  6. Biomaterials/enabling technologies

Each area of focus contains at least five faculty members with complementary expertise, who participate in the training and supervision of graduate students as co- mentors. Students will primarily be selected from three Tracks within the newly configured structure of the WFU Graduate School: Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), Biomedical Engineering (BME), or Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology (IPP).

After a common 1st year curriculum (that is unique to each track), students will identify one of our 10 primary mentors (of the 19 total program faculty), take two additional regenerative medicine-based courses, and choose a graduate committee that will guide the student through their thesis work.

The Program Director, Dr. Anthony Atala, has ultimate responsibility for the administration of the Training program, assisted by an Executive Committee composed of senior experienced trainers. A novel aspect of the proposed mentoring structure is the inclusion of seasoned faculty (Primary Mentors~ 10), young rising faculty (Mentors in Training~ 5), and senior faculty that have career-long mentoring experience (Emeritus Mentors~ 4).

The training program is reviewed and evaluated annually by both an Internal Advisory Committee and External Advisory Committee, whose members have extensive experience managing training programs as well as nationally renowned research programs in regenerative medicine.

Meet Our Pre-doctoral Fellows

  • Diana Lim (September 2020-present)
  • Brady Trevisan (September 2020 - present)
  • James Poteracki (October 2018 - present)
  • Andrea Mazzocchi (January 2018 - present)
  • Kevin Enck (September 2017 - present)
  • Renata Magalhaes, MD (November 2016 - present)
  • Matthew Brovold (October 2015 - present)
  • Mahesh Devarasetty (October 2015 - May 2017)
  • Amritha Kidiyoor (September 2015 - present)
  • Ashley Wagoner (April 2015 - June 2016)
  • Hannah B. Baker (September 2013 - June 2015)
  • John P. McQuilling (September 2013 - April 2015)