Contact: Chriss Swaney
412-268-5776

For immediate release:
February 13, 2002

Carnegie Mellon Researchers Demo Pioneering Bone Tissue Approaches At a Science Lab Open House

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University researchers are engineering bone constructs in labs that one day may be used to repair bone loss from the trauma of a gunshot wound or car accident. Under the direction of Jeffrey Hollinger, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon's Bone Tissue and Engineering Center, engineers, biologists and physicians are finding ways to tap into the self-renewing strength of bone tissue. At the school's new labs, researchers are looking not only at the biology of bone tissue but also at its engineering makeup. The researchers recently identified a molecule that can be injected into a wound to enhance healing. They are also creating another tissue engineering approach by building the scaffolding and framework to help shape the bone tissue that needs to be restored. Spending by bone tissue engineering companies has been growing at an annual rate of about 16 percent a year, with an aggregate investment exceeding $3.5 billion since 1990, according to the Tissue Engineering Society International. Industry analysts report that the fastest growing business segment in this industry are companies involved in marketing skin, bone and cardiac prosthesis.

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Feb. 27, 2002
WHERE: Carnegie Mellon University/George A. Roberts Engineering Hall,Open House/Demo off Frew Street near Schenley Park.
Parking will be available at the site.

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