Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital

Hallym University Medical Center successfully held the 13th Hallym-Columbia-Weill Cornell-NYP International Symposium at Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital on September 30, 2016, under the theme of "Experimental and Clinical: Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine."

Both tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are not only being spotlighted as alternative options to deal with incurable diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury and diabetes, but also emerging as a new paradigm to achieve technological advances in bio-organs development, biological tissue, patient-specific cell therapy and many other areas.

Prominent scholars in this field including Prof. Jeremy Mao, Prof. Helen H. Lu, Prof. Paolo Colombo from Columbia University, Prof. Timothy A. Blenkinsop from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Prof. Chan Hum Park from Hallym University joined as speakers. The presentations and discussions covered various topics such as biomaterials, musculoskeletal regeneration, lung regeneration and organ regeneration using 3D printers, all of which are stepping stones for modern medical science to take a leap forward and achieve medical breakthroughs.

The symposium was comprised of three sessions and 13 lectures. The topics of the first session were 'Tissue engineering using silk fibroin', 'Repair, regeneration, and replacement of musculoskeletal system with emphasis on cartilage and bone', 'Engineering tissue connectivity via interface tissue engineering.

In session 2 and 3, participants discussed on 'Current and future: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in Korea', 'The role of mechanical circulatory support in myocardial recovery - focus on the myocardial extracellular matrix', 'Development of transplantable artificial hepatic block using human adipose tissue-derived stem cells through 3 dimensional cell printing technique', 'Allogeneic adult human RPE transplantation sheets for age-related macular degeneration.'

"We successfully set the stage for practical discussion on experimental and clinical methods in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine by inviting prominent experts in each field," said President Hae-Ran Lee of Hallym University Medical Center. "I am very happy to see many researchers in various fields such as medical science, material science, cell biology, genomics and chemical engineering here together. I believe this symposium must have been a great opportunity for them to make progress in strengthening their specialties," she added.

Specific program is as follows.

■ Session 1
※ Chairs: Mark A. Hardy, MD, FACS (Columbia University) & Hyung-Jong Kim, MD, PhD (Hallym University)
1. Tissue engineering using silk fibroin
(Chan Hum Park, MD, PhD, Hallym University)
2. Repair, regeneration, and replacement of musculoskeletal system with emphasis on cartilage and bone
(Jeremy Mao, DDS, PhD, Columbia University)
3. Engineering tissue connectivity via interface tissue engineering
(Helen H. Lu, PhD, Columbia University)
4. Tracheal reconstruction using three-dimensionally printed artificial tracheal graft
(Hae Sang Park, MD, PhD, Hallym University)
5. Lung repair, regeneration, and replacement - experimental and clinical
(Matthew D. Bacchetta, MD, FACS, Columbia University)
6. Noninvasive fluorescent monitoring in tissue engineering applications
(Soon Hee Kim, PhD, Hallym University)

■ Session 2
※ Chairs: Sheldon M. Feldman, MD, FACS (Columbia University) & Kyung-Soon Hong, MD, PhD (Hallym University)
1. Current and future: Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in Korea
(Gilson Khang, PhD, Chonbuk National University)
2. The role of mechanical circulatory support in myocardial recovery - focus on the myocardial extracellular matrix
(Paolo C. Colombo, MD, Colombia University)
3. Development of transplantable artificial hepatic block using human adipose tissue - derived stem cells through 3 dimensional cell printing technique
(Wook Chun, MD, PhD, Hallym University)
4. The use of stem cells to study the development and function of the nervous system
(Hynek Wichterle, PhD, Colombia University)

■ Session 3
※ Chairs: Robert T. Grant, MD, FACS (Columbia University) & Yong-Jun Cho, MD, PhD (Hallym University)
1. Stem cell core facilities: Creating tools for disease modeling and drug screening
(Barbara Corneo, PhD, Colombia University)
2. Allogeneic adult human RPE transplantation sheets for age-related macular degeneration
(Timothy A. Blenkinsop, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
3. Burn scar regeneration using low temperature plasma
(Cheong Hoon Seo, MD, Hallym University)

By Chul Kwon, Int’l Cooperation Team, HUMC (chris@hallym.or.kr)