Year 1

This proposal aims to complete the preclinical steps required to file an IND for tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) as a functional replacement for patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) or other intestinal diseases.

Hypothesis: Autologous TESI offers a potentially durable human stem/progenitor-cell based treatment for patients with SBS.

Highlights this year: Progress on design of the device for generating our stem/progenitor cell clusters (OU) in the operating room, generation of the first TESI in a new large animal model, manuscript accepted for publication (AJPGI) detailing correct ultrastructure and function of TESI derived from both murine and human cells, demonstration of a novel mesenchymal stem cell marker in this system (Cell).

Our near-term goal is to translate TESI to an autologous human stem cell-based therapy for SBS.