U.S. - Egypt Workshop on "Tissue Engineering", Alexandria, Egypt, January 2006

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

0447087 Nerem Description: This award is to support a US-Egypt Workshop on Tissue Engineering to be held in Alexandria, Egypt in January 2006. The organizers are Dr. Robert Nerem, Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia and Dr. Hany El-Nazer, President, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt and Dr. Mona Marei, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. Tissue engineering is a fusion of a number of scientific and engineering disciplines including, but not limited to, materials science, tissue mechanics, genetic engineering, stem cell biology, modeling of complex biological systems, drug delivery, and clinical strategies applying to all major organs and tissues in the body. Due to the highly interdisciplinary nature of tissue engineering, a wide array of scientific knowledge and engineering principles must be integrated to develop a substitute organ or tissue. Scientific partnering and exchange of information from all these disciplines are critical to the support and emergence of tissue engineering as a viable option for the treatment of a number of debilitating human conditions. The project aims at establishing ties to combine the strengths of internationally recognized tissue engineering centers by supporting the travel of nine United States scientists to participate in the workshop and to meet with others from tissue engineering centers in Egypt and the Middle East to discuss the latest developments in tissue engineering and to establish collaborative ties. Additionally, the proceedings of the workshop will be published for later reference and stimulation of collaborative activities. Scope and broader impact: The US delegation will involve pioneers in the field of tissue engineering. They will develop outlines for collaborative research with scientists from Egypt and from other Middle East countries. The research would enhance the potential for developing components and devices for medical applications in the United States and in Egypt. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these joint scientific activities.