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Print Edition StoriesMonday, March 23, 2009
CellThera lands $570K DARPA funding for regeneration research
By Mass High Tech Staff
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Worcester biotech company CellThera Inc. reports it has landed a $570,000 contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for further research in tissue regeneration.
The contract calls for CellThera, which is part of Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Bioengineering Institute (BEI), to continue to work with the university on joint efforts to restore tissues damaged or lost due to trauma.
DARPA awarded the contract to CellThera, which then subcontracted with WPI for certain unspecified elements of the research. This joint research model was launched in 2006, and DARPA has funded it to the tune of just over $2 million to date, with this latest funding.
In the new phase of the program, George Pins, associate professor of biomedical engineering at WPI, will join in the research effort. Pins has pioneered new cell-delivery strategies that will be useful for the project, according to WPI officials. Also collaborating in the new phase will be the clinical research team led by Raymond Dunn, professor of surgery and cell biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
CellThera was founded by Tanja Dominko, now an associate professor of biology and biotechnology at WPI. The startup is housed at the Life Science and Research Center at Gateway Park at WPI.
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