The Allergan Lecture Series in Modern Biology: Kyriacos A. Athanasiou, UCI

This presentation will cover three areas: articular cartilage healing, technology translation and personal experiences in technology commercialization. Articular cartilage is soft tissue that covers the ends of long bones. A component of our joints, it is pivotal for motion and overall function. Due to its unique composition, it cannot heal by itself and often progresses to osteoarthritis following injury. Athanasiou will describe his group’s efforts helping joint cartilages, such as the knee meniscus, repair themselves via tissue engineering approaches using various stem cell sources. He will present examples and results to illustrate a specific pathway of commercializing academe-based research. Lastly, he will talk about his lessons learned in the commercialization process.