A New Focus for REM
Building upon the prior success of REM in creating a state-wide research community, as well as leading to significant ROI in terms of investigator-led NIH R01 grants, in 2020 a new direction for REM in the area of therapeutic drug delivery was announced to continue to bring together investigators to generate new approaches to addressing a wide range of diseases. The goal of this initiative is to support drug delivery research that has high innovation and potential for translational impact among diverse investigators at Emory, Georgia Tech and University of Georgia in the areas of tissue regeneration, cell therapy, and immune modulation.
This change in direction places REM at the center of and will allow maximal leverage of existing programs at partner universities. For example, scale-up facilities through the Marcus Center/CMaT ERC at Georgia Tech can be leveraged to demonstrate reproducibility of batches as a part of the IND, GMP compliant cells and cell-based products can be produced at UGA’s biomanufacturing facility employing the regulatory training and expertise in the School of Pharmacy, and administrative support through the Emory-led CTSA can be utilized for planning and executing clinical trials resulting from the successful IND. Thus, we believe this new focus for the already highly-successful REM is an essential element to translating discoveries resulting from an emerging regional emphasis on cell-based regenerative and immunomodulatory therapies.
Prior REM Funded Seed Projects
Seed Grants 2023-2024
Gastrointestinal Delivery of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics for Improved Tissue Level Targeting
Alex Abramson (GT), James Dahlman (Emory)
In vivo Bone Microfracture Repair Enhancement with Microphysiological System Design
Luke Mortensen (UGA), Shuichi Takayama (GT)
Localized Intestinal Immunosuppression for Treatment of Crohn’s Disease
Leslie Chan (GT), Paul Dawson (Emory)
R3 (Regeneration, Rehabilitation, Restoration) to Build Muscle Strength under Ischemic and Atherogenic Conditions in Porcine Model of PAD
Luke Brewster (Emory), Jarrod Call (UGA)
Seed Grants 2022-2023
Elucidating Predictive Potency of IFN-Ɣ Primed Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Graft vs Host Disease Using Spatial Single Cell Transcriptomics
Ahmet Coskun (GT), Edwin Horwitz (Emory)
Engineering a Cardiac-targeted Platform for Gene Therapy
Rebecca Levit (Emory), Andrés García (GT), Christopher Doering (Emory)
Harnessing Platelet Lysate to Enhance Marrow-Mediated Cartilage Repair
Jay Patel (Emory), John Peroni (UGA)
Microfluidic Technologies to Collect Progenitor Cells Label-Free for Repair of the Ocular Surface
James Lauderdale (UGA), Todd Sulchek (GT)
Mitochondrial Transfer from MSC-derived Extracellular Vesicles as a Novel Paradigm to Modulate Microglia Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease
Ross Marklein (UGA), Levi Wood (GT), Jarrod Call (UGA)
Seed Grants 2021-2022
Precise Area INtroduction and Targeted Delivery (PAINT Delivery): A Novel Tool to Facilitate Targeted Intracellular Delivery of Therapeutic Agents
Andrei Fedorov (Georgia Tech, Petit Institute researcher), Ravi Kane (Georgia Tech, Petit Institute researcher), Lohitash Karumbaiah (University of Georgia)
Lymphatic Function as a Therapeutic Target for Enhancing the Abscopal Effect in Melanoma
J. Brandon Dixon (Georgia Tech, Petit Institute researcher), Zachary Buchwald (Emory University, School of Medicine)
Extracellular Vesicles Encapsulating Cas9/sgRNA for Treatment of Lung Cancer
Houjian Cai (University of Georgia), Shi-Yong Sun (Emory University)
Seed Grants 2020-2021
Engineered Exosome as a Delivery Shuttle of Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Jie Jiang (Emory), Yao Yao (UGA)
RBD Targeted Delivery of Bacterial Effector Protein Nanoparticles for Treatment of COVID-19 Associated Hyper-Inflammation
Julie Champion (GT), Andrew Neish (Emory)
Use of Biocompatible Hydrogel Encapsulated with iPSC Derived Notochordal Cells for Regeneration of Intervertebral Disc in Mice
Hicham Drissi (Emory), Mohd Nazir Khan (Emory), Johnna Temenoff (GT)
Seed Grants 2019-2020
No seed grants funded this year.
Seed Grants 2018-2019
Bactericidal Hydrogels to Treat Bone Infection in a Large Animal Fracture Model
Andrés García (GT), John Peroni (UGA)
Comparing the Effects of MSCs Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells Originating from Normal and Diseased Joint Chondrocytes on the Progression of Osteoarthritis
Hicham Drissi (Emory), Luke Mortensen (UGA)
Polycaprolactone Scaffold and Forearm Free Tissue Viability in Yucatan Pigs
Scott Hollister (GT), Craig Villari (Emory)
Seed Grants 2017-2018
Microfluidic Technologies for Improved Engineering of iPSCs and their Applications to Treating Corneal and Lymphatic Diseases
Todd Sulchek (Georgia Tech), Young-sup Yoon (Emory), and James Lauderdale (UGA)
Allen Family Seed Grant
Using Pluripotent Stem Cells to Treat Male-factor Infertility: Towards a Potential Regenerative Medicine Strategy
Charles Easley (UGA), Anthony Chan (Emory)
Identification of Molecular and Epigenetic Signatures of Cell Potency and Enhanced Embryonic Stem Cell Reprogramming for Regenerative Biomanufacturing
Yuhong Fan (GT), Rabindranath De La Fuente (UGA)
Hydrogels for Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Graft-vs-Host Disease
Andrés García (GT), Muna Qayed (Emory)
Elucidating Natural Killer Cells as a Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
Jae-Kyung Lee (UGA), Levi Wood (GT)
Exploring Mechanosensitive Cues to Enhance Mitochondrial Structure and Function during Regeneration
Jarrod Call (UGA), Khalid Salaita (Emory)
Pro – Regenerative Immunomodulatory Therapies to Repair Volumetric Muscle Injuries
Nick Willett (Emory), Edward Botchwey (GT)
Condyle Regenerative Medicine
Scott Hollister (GT), Steven Goudy (Emory), Shelly Abramowicz (Emory)
Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells are Novel Regulators of Collateral Blood Vessel Formation
Laura Hansen (Emory), Robert Taylor (Emory), Young Jang (GT)
Seed Grants 2016 – 2017
Development of Novel iPSC-RBCs Engineered to Tolerize Recipients to Alloantigens that complicate Transfusion and other Cell Therapies
John Roback (Emory), James Dahlman (GT), Sean Stowell (Emory)
Enhancing Transplanted MSC Engraftment by Selective Opening of the Bone Marrow Niche for Hypophosphatasia Renewal
Luke Mortensen (UGA), Edward Botchwey (GT)
HDL-mimetic Nanocarriers for miRNA-mediated Direct Cell Reprogramming for Vascular Regeneration
Yongtae (Tony) Kim (GT), Young-sup Yoon (Emory)
Hydrogels for Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Graft-vs-Host Disease
Andrés García (GT), Muna Qayed (Emory), Raghavan Chinnadurai (Emory)
Microfluidic Technologies to Rapidly Collect Stem Cells for Treatment of Damaged Cornea
James Lauderdale (UGA), Todd Sulchek (GT)
Single Cell Epigenomics: Towards Understanding the Mechanisms Regulating Cell Potency and Epigenetic Stability for Regenerative Biomanufacturing
Rabindranath De La Fuente (UGA), Yuhong Fan (GT)
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Traumatic Brain Injuries
Lohitash Karumbaiah (UGA), Maysam Ghovanloo (GT)
Transplantation of Bioenergetics-enriched Stem Cells to Boost Muscle Regeneration in Ischemic Myopathy
Young Jang (GT), Luke Brewster (Emory), Franklin West (UGA)
Seed Grants 2015 – 2016
Enhancing Multiple Myeloma Vaccine Response after Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation
Zaid Al-Kadhimi (Emory), Manu Platt (GT), Cynthia R. Giver (Emory)
The Development of a Large Animal Model and Lymphatic Muscle Cell Therapy Approach for Treating Secondary Lymphedema
Brandon Dixon (GT), John Peroni (UGA)
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Traumatic Brain Injuries
Lohitash Karumbaiah (UGA), Maysam Ghovanloo (GT)
Enhancing Transplanted MSC Engraftment by Selective Opening of the Bone Marrow Niche for Hypophosphatasia
Luke Mortensen (UGA), Edward Botchwey (Georgia Tech)
A Novel Cell Delivery Strategy for the Myocardium
W. Robert Taylor (Emory), Andrés García (GT)
Development of a Robotic Platform for MRI-guided Cellular Therapeutic Infusions
Zion Ho Tse (UGA), John Oshinski (Emory)
An Immunoengineering Strategy to Restore Immune-homeostasis and Improve Regenerative Intervention Outcomes Following Severe Musculoskeletal Trauma
Nick Willett (Emory), Krishnendu Roy (GT)
Selective Removal of Residual Stem Cells Using Qβ Virus-Like Particles
Chunhui Xu (Emory), M.G. Finn (GT)
Identification of Surface Glycoproteins as Effective Biomarkers of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Progenitors
Chunhui Xu (Emory), Ronghu Wu (GT)
Seed Grants 2014 – 2015
The Development of a Large Animal Model and Lymphatic Muscle Cell Therapy Approach for Treating Secondary Lymphedema
Brandon Dixon (GT), John Peroni (UGA)
Biofunctionalized Hydrogels for Intestinal Epithelial Stem Cell Delivery
Andrés García (GT), Asma Nusrat (Emory)
Toward the Development of Molecular Therapeutics for Uterine Leiomyoma: 3D Mechanical Culture Models for Dissecting the Molecular Signaling Pathways Mediating Fibroid Growth and Development
Michelle Dawson (GT), Stacey Schutte (Emory)
Engineering the Regenerative Niche to Facilitate Muscle Repair via Cell-based Delivery of Adipose-derived Stem Cells
Robert Guldberg (GT), Jarrod Call (UGA)
Role of Fhl1b in Neogenesis and Regeneration of β-cells
Chong Shin (GT), Changwon Park (Emory)
Dominant-negative-TNF-transporting HDL-polymer nanoparticle for treating neuroinflammation associated with Alzheimer’s-like pathology
YongTae (Tony) Kim (GT), Malú Tansey (Emory)
Towards a robust cell culture model for studying the formation, maintenance, and regeneration of the neuromuscular junction circuit
Wilfried Rossoll (Emory), Younan Xia (GT)
Lymph node-targeting of adoptively transferred mesenchymal stromal cells via CCR7 expression reprogramming for immunotherapy
Ian Copland (Emory), Susan Thomas (GT)
Preclinical Evaluation of Cellular Encapsulation in a Porcine Model of Critical Limb Ischemia
W. Robert Taylor (Emory), Shannon Holmes (UGA)
Longitudinal MRI and MRS Assessment of iPSC Neural Stem Cell Treatment in White Brain Matter
Hui Mao (Emory) and Franklin West (UGA) and Samuel Platt (UGA)
Georgia Tech and UGA Seed Grants 2013 – 2014
Biofunctionalized Hydrogels for Intestinal Epithelial Stem Cell Delivery
Andrés García (GT), Asma Nusrat (Emory)
Biomaterial-based Synthetic Lymphoid-tissue Niches for Generation of Antigen-specific Memory B cells and Plasma cells from Stem Cells: Towards On-Demand B cell Immunotherapy
Krishnendu Roy (GT), Ignacio Sanz (Emory)
Development of a Tissue Engineered Implant for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair
Stacey C. Schutte (Emory), Johnna Temenoff (GT), Gina M. Northington (Emory)
Biomaterial-based Delivery of Immunosuppressive Dendritic Cells for Enhanced Longevity of Murine Allogeneic Islet Transplants.
Julia Babensee (GT)
Pre-Investigative New Drug (IND) Delivery Testing of Autologous MSCs in Plasma Gel Vehicle in a Porcine Model of Critical Limb Ischemia.
Luke Brewster (Emory), Ian Copland (Emory), Todd McDevitt (GT)
UGA Seed Grants 2013 – 2014
MRI-guided Robotic Targeting System for Cellular Therapeutic Injections in the Human Spinal Cord
John N. Oshinski (Emory), Zion Ho Tse (UGA)
Longitudinal MRI and MRS Assessment of iPSC Neural Stem Cell Treatment in White Brain Matter
Hui Mao (Emory) and Franklin West (UGA) and Samuel Platt (UGA)
Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycan Based Hydrogels for Traumatic Brain Injury
Ravi Bellmakonda (GT) Lohitash Karumbaiah (UGA)
Renewal – Microfluidic Technologies to Rapidly Collect Stem Cells for Treatment of Damaged Cornea
Todd Sulchek (GT), James Lauderdale (UGA)
Advanced Quantitative MRI for Tissue Engineering and Osteoarthritis Research
Sam Franklin (UGA), Shannon P. Holmes (UGA), Steve Stice (UGA)
Seed Grants 2012 – 2013
Microfabricated Bioinert and Biodegradable Wireless Sensors for In Situ Quantification of Mechanical Strains in Tissue Engineered Scaffolds
Bob Guldberg (GT), Mark Allen (GT)
Dermal Delivery of Endothelin-1 and Nitric Oxide Inhibitors to Regenerate Lymphatic Pumping in a Novel Lymphedema Model
Brandon Dixon (GT), Mark Prausnitz (GT)
Magnetic Resonance-Guided, Minimally Invasive, Percutaneous, Targeted Delivery of Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics to the Human Spinal Cord
John Oshinski (Emory), Nicholas Boulis (Emory), David Ku (GT), Sherif Nour (Emory), Jason Lamanna (Emory)
Balancing Cell Activation and Death Signals in Reprogramming and Regeneration
Edward Mocarski (Emory), Todd McDevitt (GT), William Kaiser (Emory), John Cooke (Stanford)
Ex-vivo Expanded Autologous Mesenchymal Stromal Cells to Treat Graft Versus Host Disease
Ned Waller (Emory), Jacques Galipeau (Emory), Ian Copland (Emory), Manu Platt (GT), Muna Qayed (Emory), Cynthia Giver (Emory)
Improving Cardiac Function through Cardiomyogenesis Ahsan Husain (Emory), Nawazish Naqvi (Emory)
Generation of Engineered Cardiac Constructs from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Chunhui Xu (Emory/CHOA), Todd McDevitt, Mary Wagner (Emory/CHOA), Kevin Maher (Emory/CHOA)
Preconditioning Human MSCs from Amputated Ischemic Limbs for Autologous Clinical Application
Luke Brewster (Emory), Ian Copeland (Emory), Todd McDevitt (GT), Alex Peister (Morehouse)
Delivering Pluripotent Stem Cell Trophic Factors for Bone Marrow Regeneration
Todd McDevitt (GT)
Restoring Immunoregulation with Protein Biomaterials
Julie Champion (GT)
Anti-Angiogenic Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Metastatic Melanoma
Michelle Dawson (GT)
Seed Grants 2011 – 2012
Cardiac Therapies for Improvement of Patients and Children with Severe Cardiac Damage
Chunhui Xu (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta), Todd McDevitt (GT), Mary Wagner (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta), Kevin Maher (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta)
Implantable, Biodegradable Sensors to Help Understand Tendon Repair
Mark Allen (GT)
Developing a Mesenchymal Stem Cell-based Gene Delivery System to Impact Tumor Growth
Michelle Dawson (GT)
Cell Therapy Strategies for Patients with Severe Limb Trauma
Luke Brewster (Emory), Todd McDevitt (GT), Ian Copland (Emory), Alex Peister (Morehouse)
Balancing Cell Life and Longevity – The Promise of Regenerating Cells and Tissues Affected by Disease
Ed Markowski (Emory), Todd McDevitt (GT), William Kaiser (Emory), John Cooke (Stanford)
Cell and Molecular Therapies for the Human Spinal Cord
John Oshinski (Emory), Nicholas Boulis (Emory), David Ku (GT), Sherif Nour (Emory), Jason Lamanna (Emory)
Cell Therapy to Treat Graft Versus Host Disease
Ned Waller (Emory), Jacques Galipeau (Emory), Ian Copland (Emory), Manu Platt (GT), Muna Qayed (Emory), Cynthia Giver (Emory)
Improving Cardiac Function through Cardiomyogenesis
Ahsan Husain (Emory), Nawazish Naqvi (Emory)
New Delivery Model to Impact Lymphedema and Other Inflammatory Diseases
Mark Prausnitz (GT)
Cytokine scavenging nanoparticles: Multifunctional biomaterials that modulate inflammation and protect against infection during wound healing
Julie Champion (GT)
Stem Cell Delivery Methods to Improve Bone Marrow Repair and Treatment of Blood Disorders
Todd McDevitt (GT)
Study of Neuroinflammation and Neurogenesis Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Michelle LaPlaca (GT), Gregory Ford (Morehouse), Manuel Yepes (Emory), and Jack Arbiser (Emory)
Reprogramming Somatic Cells into Endothelial Cells and Their Applications
Young-sup Yoon (Emory)
Regeneration and Reprogramming in the Zebra Fish Model System
Chong Shin (GT)
Biomaterials-Based Strategies to Modulate Cathepsin Activity and Promote Healing of Tendon Overuse Injuries
Johnna Temenoff (GT), Manu Platt (GT)
Seed Grants 2010 – 2011
Cell Therapy in Peripheral Arterial Disease
Arshed Quyyumi (Emory), Ned Waller (Emory), Young Sup Yoon (Emory), Jacques Galipeau (Emory), Matthew Corriere (Emory), Kreton Mavromatis (Emory), John Oshinski (Emory)
Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Autologous Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for Crohn’s Disease
Subra Kugathasan (Emory), Tanvi Dhere (Emory), Ian Copland (Emory), Paul Wolpe (Emory)
Quantitative Analysis of Monocyte Differentiation
Manu Platt (GT)
Engineering Mesenchymal Stem Cells for More Rapid Wound Healing
Michelle Dawson (GT)
Multifunctional Biomaterials that Modulate Inflammation and Protect Against Infection During Would Healing
Julie Champion (GT)
Tissue Engineered Tolerance-Inducing Niche Using Multifunctional Biomaterials
Julia Babensee (GT)
Engineering Autologous Cell Therapy for Diabetes
Athanassios Sambanis (GT), Collin Weber (Emory)
Regulating Immune Reconstitution Through Graft Engineering Donor Dendritic Cells
Manu Platt (GT), Ned Waller (Emory)
