Dear Friends,
Welcome to the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. It is a pleasure for me to return to Toronto to lead this exciting initiative and contribute to realizing the promise of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
For those familiar with the field of stem cell research, Toronto is where it all began, over 40 years ago, with Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch’s discovery of hematopoietic stem cells at the Ontario Cancer Institute. The pioneering work of Till and McCulloch established a new and exciting field that paved the way for the emergence of regenerative medicine as we know it today, with stem cell therapy as one of its cornerstones.
With the exciting developments in stem cell biology over the past decade, regenerative medicine is experiencing a surge in activity, awareness and funding within North America and across Europe, Asia and parts of the Middle East. A truly multidisciplinary approach, regenerative medicine brings together expertise from complementary fields including biology, biochemistry, medicine and engineering.
Collaborate. Create. Cure. These three words are the foundation of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. The challenge for basic researchers and clinicians within the Centre is to harness the remarkable potential of stem cells to develop novel treatments for a broad range of devastating and life-threatening diseases.
I could not conclude without expressing our deep gratitude to Rob and Cheryl McEwen, visionaries and philanthropists whose generous gifts have made the McEwen Centre possible. Their commitment is central to the success of the McEwen Centre.
Sincerely,
Gordon Keller |
