The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received two grants totaling $50,000 from the Arvest Foundation to benefit the Organ Engineering and Gene Therapy Fund for Excellence, which will support the UAMS Research Center for Organ Engineering and Gene Therapy.
The Organ Engineering and Gene Therapy Fund for Excellence will provide crucial funding to support the UAMS Organ Transplant team’s research in cellular engineering, genetic reprogramming, targeted cellular removal and organ revitalization. It will also help acquire technology and equipment needed to carry out essential research activities.
“Engineering and reprogramming organs at a cellular level can potentially ameliorate human aging and disease,” said Lyle Burdine, MD PhD, associate professor of Transplant Surgery and director of Organ Transplant in the College of Medicine Department of Surgery. “We are very grateful to the Arvest Foundation for contributing to the Organ Engineering and Gene Therapy Fund for Excellence, which will support physicians and scientists at UAMS in the development of novel cellular-based medicines to improve the health and lives of patients.”
UAMS is home to Arkansas’ only adult kidney and liver transplant center. UAMS performed the state’s first kidney transplant in 1964 and the state’s first liver transplant in 2005. The UAMS Organ Transplant team has performed more than 1,800 kidney transplants and more than 400 liver transplants.