The Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota and Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital received a five-year, $26 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a bioengineering research center.
The Engineering Research Center for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems seeks to develop bioengineering technology to preserve systems such as cells, tissues, organs and entire organisms. It also aims to launch educational programs as well as diversity initiatives for STEM students and professionals.
"Through this center, we will strive to revolutionize transplantation and other cellular and biological therapies, as well as accelerate and shrink the cost of drug discovery and other vital medical research," John Bischof, PhD, the center's director and the director of the University of Minnesota's Institute for Engineering in Medicine, said in an Aug. 4 news release.
The center's administrative base will be at the University of Minnesota. It will be co-led by the University of Minnesota and Massachusetts General Hospital, collaborating with key institutions at the University of California Riverside and University of California Berkeley.