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CRN: Center for Regenerative Nanomedicine

Success Stories

Spine fusion image

Spinal fusion strategies advance toward clinical translation

One of the goals of the CRN is to provide resources to scientists looking to translate their discoveries into real-world technologies. Leveraging these benefits, the laboratories of Samuel Stupp and Erin and Wellington Hsu performed important early stage research to demonstrate the potential of using a synthetic peptide amphiphile (PA) nanofiber scaffold for spinal fusion.

Zaida Alvarez working in the lab.

CRN funding for projects, equipment boosts young researcher’s career

Zaida Alvarez has leveraged the opportunities offered by the CRN as much as any graduate student or postdoctoral researcher since the center was founded. She has coauthored 11 publications related to CRN projects, culminating in the development of a novel therapeutic candidate for spinal cord injury that has generated coverage from hundreds of media outlets worldwide.

Bioactive putty

Proof-of-concept work supported by CRN expands collaboration network

Using CRN funding, researchers in the Stupp group reconfigured a liquid bioactive nanofiber into a putty with improved surgical handling properties. This new formulation was key in attracting a gift from Michael and Mary Sue Shannon and forming collaborations with researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Mayo Clinic and the Steadman Philippon Research Institute to initiate translational studies for cartilage regeneration in large animals.