The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine

I was recently fortunate enough to visit to the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, based at the renowned MaRS Discovery District here in Toronto. This visit was part of our ongoing follow-up from ISSCR 2011, and included our Consul-General, Mr. Jonathan Dart. SIN intern Lara Kaute also wrote about her experiences last week.

The McEwen Centre is a world-leading hub for stem cell research, bringing together some of the most talented scientists in Canada and the world. Its broad remit is on translational regenerative medicine (taking laboratory stem cell research and turning it into useful therapies), with five areas of focus:

• Blood: Create unlimited haemopoietic (blood-forming) cells
• Diabetes: Eliminate type I diabetes
• Heart: Create functional heart tissue
• Lung: Create unlimited lung cells
• Neurology: Eliminate all neurodegenerative diseases

After a quick primer on stem cell biology, we were taken into the laboratories to check on progress. Based on what we saw, the Centre is going to reach the above goals within a few years and will have to move on to fresh and exciting pastures.

You may have read in the SIN newsletter back in July that McEwen Centre researchers had succeeded in tracking down the progenitor haemopoietic (blood-forming) stem cell, and in April that their XVIVO lung perfusion system was allowing more lungs to be transplanted. On this tour, we were shown an amazing petri dish of beating heart cells that were created using reprogrammed cells from a patient’s blood sample. Ultimately, these cells could be used to repair or regenerate damaged heart tissue, and to test drugs and personalised drug combinations. We also saw similarly reprogrammed cartilage cells and insulin-producing pancreatic cells, with similarly revolutionary applications.

The UK’s main strength in stem cells is in fundamental developmental biology, which complements the more therapy-oriented translational medicine extremely well. The new Cell Therapy Technology and Innovation Centre will put this understanding to fine use, and will almost certainly pursue collaborations with Canadian centres of excellence.