Developing the treatments of tomorrow in the lab today
In our NIH funded laboratory, we are pioneering 2 major scientific fields: (i) Interventional Regenerative Medicine (IRM) - Restoring cellular health and function of injured tissues through the local delivery of regenerative and stem cell therapies and (ii) Interventional Oncology (IO) - Treating solid tumors through the local delivery of drug, cellular and thermal/ablative therapies. In the field of IRM, we specifically work on the differences in organ regeneration between children and adults. Furthermore, as children have much higher bioenergetic requirements, we are focusing on novel therapies to address this specific need.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) encompasses two distinct diseases: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Mucosal healing is the preferred treatment target, as patients who achieve mucosal healing have improved outcomes, including decreased risk of surgery, and lower relapse rates. However, almost all therapies are given either orally or intravenously resulting in their systemic distribution. Our research focuses on delivering conventional and novel stem cell-based therapies directly into the bowel circulation, using locoregional techniques, to ensure maximal therapeutic efficiency.
