Invaluable research with donated tissue
IIAM is proud to showcase a few extraordinary projects!
With gratitude for the 30,000+ organs and tissues annually referred to IIAM, and awe over the magnitude of research being done and the medical advances being made, IIAM is proud to showcase a few of these extraordinary projects!
Clinical Projects
Researcher Working with Hearts
This research partner is developing CAP-1002, a cellular therapy product intended primarily to treat Duchesne Muscular Dystrophy, although may be utilized for other neuromuscular diseases in the future. Capricor uses human hearts for the genes needed to create the therapy.
Pre-Clinical Projects
Researcher Supporting Numerous Diseases in Multiple Organs and Tissue
This researcher specializes in control and disease state samples including human and animal tissues or preparations, ADME-Tox products and research services, cell and gene therapy products, blood, and other biofluids. Bio-IVT uses livers from IIAM to provide hepatocytes to researchers for a wide range of research projects.
Adrenal Insufficiency
Adrenal Insufficiency causes severe health problems including low blood sugar and blood pressure and some patients die. Hypoparathyroidism results in a persons’ inability to retain calcium this can cause severe health problems such as involuntary movement, pain, broken bones, and heart or breathing problems. Aspect Biosystems will use tissues received from organ donors to isolate cells which will be used for performing lab based research in cell therapies for Adrenal Insufficiency and Hypoparathyroidism. Cell therapies are similar to an organ transplants but only for isolated cells.
Liver Researcher
This liver research company is developing therapies for the biggest liver health challenges, from increasing donor liver supply to reducing cirrhosis complications. Ochre’s research uses livers sourced from IIAM for their groundbreaking work.
Regenerative Medicine Researcher
This regenerative medicine company uses organs from IIAM to support their regenerative medicine advancements. At the core of their approach, they are programming solid organ cells and assembling them into Tissue Seeds – precise ensembles of therapeutically active hepatocyte cells combined with supporting cells – that are introduced into the patient to take over or augment the functions that are failing within an organ.
Liver Transplant Research
This research focused company is using livers from IIAM to help those who are waiting for liver transplants. Like traditional liver transplantation, the cells from a liver can themselves be transplanted or used in various therapies designed to help patients with different liver diseases. We have developed a new technology that allows for the multiplication of these liver cells to provide the large numbers of cells needed for therapeutic benefit. The expansion of these cells allow for a loved one’s donation to be maximized, meaning that hundreds, if not thousands, of patients could conceivably benefit from the gift of a single donation.
Diabetes Research Network
This research group is a collaborative type 1 diabetes research project funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Using pancreas and other organs form IIAM, they support scientific investigator by providing, without cost, rare and difficult to obtain tissue beneficial to their research. With JDRF’s generosity, this research group currently supports over 25 Type 1 diabetes-related scientific studies at institutions around the world.
Lung Research Organization
This company utilizes human lungs procured from IIAM to develop way to produce engineered lung tissue, which someday may help patients who suffer from COPD, emphysema, cystic fibroses, pulmonary hypertension and other end-stage lung diseases. The lungs from these donors will be used to help develop the tools, methods and techniques necessary to generate replacement functional lung tissue.
Kidney Transplant R&D
The kidneys received from IIAM will be used to test and develop a normothermic machine perfusion device for preserving and assessing kidneys. The device will substantially extend the time over which a kidney can be considered viable for transplant. The device will also provide data that can be used to evaluate kidney performance, in particular for marginal kidneys.
University-Based Regenerative Medicine Intsitute
This regenerative medicine institute is recognized as an international leader in translating scientific discovery into clinical therapies. Physicians and scientists here were the first in the world to engineer laboratory-grown organs that were successfully implanted into humans. Today, this interdisciplinary team that numbers about 400 is working to engineer more than 40 different replacement tissues and organs, and to develop healing cell therapies – all with the goal to cure, rather than merely treat, disease. Some of the research being conducted utilizes the precious donor gifts of human organs that are received from IIAM.