Center for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
Center Overview
The Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine opened in 2009 with the recruitment of Curt I. Civin MD as its founding director. Dr. Civin is recognized as a pioneer in cancer research for developing a way to isolate blood stem cells from mature blood cells. The mission of the Center is to discover new treatments and preventive approaches, based on stem cell technology, for important, currently intractable human maladies. The Center is driven by an imperative to work quickly from bench science to the actual use of discoveries to transform clinical medicine.
“This science is a reflection of the mission of the University of Maryland School of Medicine — to take new treatments from bench to bedside, from the laboratory to patients, as quickly as possible.” --Dean E. Albert Reece
The Future of Medicine
Stem cell research is transforming the future of medicine. Indeed, as we all begin life as a stem cell, it is through a highly complex series of events that those few stem cells, which are capable of self-renewal and differentiation, develop into all of the specialized cells found in our adult bodies. By studying these events we gain rare insights into how the human body is made. Stem cell research also holds amazing potential for restructuring the way we practice medicine: One day, stem cells may be used to replace or repair damaged tissues and organs and to dramatically alter how we treat diseases like cancer.
The Center provides a focal point of interaction, information, leadership, and facilitation of stem cell research and regenerative medicine applications at the University of Maryland, with links to Johns Hopkins, Federal labs, and corporate researchers across the State of Maryland. To fulfill its mission with specificity, the Center has established a set of four scientific Working Groups for focused research, educational and clinical interactions. The Center is also a founding member of the Maryland Stem Cell Consortium, which created a stem cell core facility to support and accelerate research in the field.