UCL Ear Institute

Microtia Research

• Home
• UCL Successes in Regenerative Medicine
• The UCL Ear Institute
• Professor Martin Birchall
• Your Gift

UCL Successes in Regenerative Medicine

Microtia research is an excellent example of UCL’s pioneering research into regenerative medicine. This field of medicine is a revolutionary development in modern science, focused on the repair, replacement or regeneration of human cells, issue or organs, and their successful transplantation into the body. The aim of all such work is to restore or establish the normal functioning of the body and, in so doing, to greatly improve quality of life.

UCL is right at the forefront of discovery in regenerative medicine. Professor Martin Birchall (UCL Ear Institute) delivered the first stem-cell based organ transplants in an adult (2008) and a child (2010), using ‘recellularised’ biomaterials (in which a donor organ is ‘washed’ of the donor’s cells and recoated in the recipients own stem cells). Last year, Professor Alex Seifalian’s team (UCL Division of Surgery and UCL Centre for Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine) developed the windpipe for the world’s first syntheticbased organ transplant, removing the need for a donor altogether. This involves a ‘nanocomposite’ polymer, around which grow the patient’s own stem cells, which remodel themselves into a natural windpipe in the body. This is a pioneering step in the history of transplantation, bringing “NASA style” nanotechnology and stem cell biology together. This is the future of treatment, now.

UCL is an exempt charity with HMRC No: X6243 and as such all gifts to UCL are eligible for tax relief.