As a pediatric surgeon in the urology field, I became interested in finding a better solution for children who were undergoing a 100-year-old operation to enlarge their bladders using intestinal tissue which led to my interest in regenerative medicine.

I remain fascinated with this field because of its potential to cure disease, rather than to merely treat symptoms. As a result, the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is recognized as an international leader in translating scientific discovery into clinical therapies, with many world firsts, including the development and implantation of the first engineered organ in a patient. A number of the basic principles of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine were first developed at the institute.