OBSTRACT: interpreting the abstraction of tissue regeneration and re-engineering of female pelvic floor disorders in clinical practice

Professor Karl-Dietrich Sievert, University Clinic of Rostock

Professor Karl-Dietrich Sievert, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCS, was the Chair of Urology and Andrology, Director of Uro-oncology, Neuro-urology, Incontinence and Reconstructive Urology at Salk Clinic and Parcelsus Medical University (PMU) in Salzburg, Austria and Director of the Department of Urology at the University of Lubeck (UKSH).  Previously he was the Vice Chair of Urology for more than 10 years at the University of Tübingen.

With his initiative, interdisciplinary incontinence centers were founded, which today are the standard of care (Urology, OBGYN, Neurology, General Surgery, Geriatric, Physiotherapy).  In addition he introduced these primary aspects in the field of research for spinal cord injured patients SCITReCS (Spinal Cord and Tissue Regeneration Center) in Salzburg at the PMU. His long-term knowledge of stem cell research and tissue engineering were a great benefit linking his clinical treatment and influencing his basic research (tissue regeneration, functional recovery after SCI, Pharmacotherapy, neuromodulation).  
 
Professor Sievert received his medical degree from the Ruprecht-Karls-University Medical School in Heidelberg and the University Clinic of Mannheim in Germany where he wrote his doctoral dissertation “Selective Sacral Root Stimulation by using sinusoidal signal and specific organ frequency for the physiological bladder evacuation” under the direction of Professor Peter Alken.  He completed fellowships at the University of California’s Urology Department and the Urology and Nephrology Center in Mansoura, Egypt with Professors Emil Tanagho and Tom Lue and Professors Mohamed Ghoneim and Hassan Abol-Enein, respectively. Professor Sievert has been recognized for his surgical expertise by both the American and Royal College of Surgeons and was recently elected to the AUA Education Council.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS).  In addition to his leading knowledge in the field of reconstructive and function urology, he built his expertise as a highly skilled laparoscopic surgeon as well as a certified DaVinci Console Surgeon.

Professor Sievert has participated in visiting professorships and held international training courses, published in the fields of oncology, neuro-urology, incontinence, and reconstructive surgery and is a board member of numerous urological and reconstructive surgery organizations.  He has received funding and awards for his research and is a recurring meeting contributor for both his clinical and basic research work to the local and international community, such as the European, German and American Urology Associations, International Continence Society, and Global Congress on Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction, including State-of-the-Art presentations in oncology, incontinence, tissue engineering and stem cell treatments. In both 2011 and 2013, he was elected as Chairman of the ESFFU-ERGURS meeting and the 2012 AuF, Germany’s Urology Research meeting.  In 2016, he was elected as Co-Chairman of the Global Congress on Lower Urinary Tracy dysfunction meeting in Vienna, Austria.

Professor Sievert’s clinical and basic research interests include oncology (investigation of advanced detection tools and reduced invasiveness for improved functional outcome using anatomical and clinical findings), neuro-urology (diagnosis and treatment of urological nerve disorders), incontinence (pathophysiology), reconstructive surgery (medical devices, tissue engineering and stem cell treatments), pharmacotherapy and progressive and innovative treatment of spinal cord injured patients, such as early SNM implantation, which he won a 2010 Klee Innovation Prize award and has several patents in process.  He has initiated novel clinical trials to investigate the outcome of incremental or combined anti-muscarinics dosages to increase effectivity without side effects.  In recent years he became one of the few urologic experts in the stem cell and tissue-engineering field who has focused on the real-time processes of bringing research initiatives from the laboratory to clinic.

Assistant Professor Oksana Shynlova, University of Toronto

Dr Shynlova has a PhD in Biochemistry from Kiev, Ukraine. Dr Shynlova’s research in Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada focuses on several areas of interest, including studies of fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying the development of Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs), in particular Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) in pre- and post-menopausal women. Using molecular biological, biochemical and immunohistochemical approaches, she examined the extracellular matrix in vaginal tissue of women with advanced POP. The focus was on in vivo expression of genes and proteins participating in elastogenesis and collagenogenesis, as well as the expression of major proteolytic enzymes and their tissue inhibitors. Dr Shynlova developed a methodology that characterized autologous vaginal cells isolated from the tissue of patients with POP. Her current interest is in generating autologous muscle cells and fibroblasts from urine-derived somatic cells reprogrammed to Pluripotent Stem Cells in attempt to revolutionize modern urogynecological treatment of PFDs.

Associate Professor Caroline Gargett, Hudson Institute of Medical Research

Associate Professor Caroline Gargett is a Senior Research Fellow of the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia, Deputy Director of the Ritchie Centre and heads the Endometrial Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. She has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University. She discovered adult stem cells in the endometrium as well as specific markers to purify these epithelial progenitors and mesenchymal stem cells. She investigates their role in endometriosis and infertility and is developing endometrial mesenchymal stem cells as a cell-based therapy for gynaecological applications. She has received a number of international awards from ESHRE, Society for Reproductive Investigation and the Endometriosis Foundation of America. She is a Board Member of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and on the Editorial Boards of Biology of Reproduction, Reproductive Sciences and Scientific Reports.

Professor Alicia El Haj, Keele University

Professor Alicia El Haj is a leading UK figure in Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine and has been involved in bringing together interdisciplinary groups within biomedicine, physical sciences and engineering to develop innovative new cell based therapies to the clinic. She has published over a 300 publications in novel enabling technologies such as novel cell and tissue engineering approaches , bioreactors technology, biomaterials and new imaging systems for regenerative medicine with funding from EPSRC, MRC, BBSRC, AR UK Innovate and EU FP in the UK. She is a co-Director of a CDT programme in Regen Med, and a UKRMP Hub in Engineering the Stem cell niche. ISTM has been progressing cell therapies into routine clinical use in orthopaedics for the past 10 years working with consultant orthopaedic surgeons.  She is also a Director of a spin out company MICA Biosystems , Ltd involved in translating her patents into clinical use. Professor El Haj was awarded a Royal Society Merit Award in 2014 and in March 2015, was awarded the MRC Suffrage Award for her role in leading women in STEM .

Professor Margot Damaser, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Dr  Damaser received her PhD in Bioengineering from the joint program of the University of California San Francisco and Berkeley. She is currently Professor of Molecular Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and has joint appointments in the Biomedical Engineering Department and the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic. She also is a Senior Research Career Scientist in the Advanced Platform Technology Center of Excellence of the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH. She has conducted research on the causes of and treatments for female pelvic floor disorders for over 20 years. She has developed and used animal models to test novel therapies with a focus on applying techniques from regenerative medicine to pelvic floor disorders. Dr Damaser has over 130 scientific peer-reviewed publications, has a number of patents pending, and has had research grants from NIH, US Dept of Veterans Affairs, private foundations, and several companies.

Professor Jan Deprest, UZ Leuven

Jan Deprest MD PhD FRCOG is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Faculty of Medicine (KU Leuven) and its University Hospitals Leuven and at University College London. He is the Academic Chair (2012-2021) of the Department of Development and Regeneration, under which Obstetrics and Gynaecology is resorting. He is the Director of the Training Center for Surgical Technologies, with Prof Paul Herijgers. He is member of the Group Board of Biomedical Sciences KU Leuven (2014-2017). 

In Leuven, he is the clinical director of the fetal therapy program as well as the co-director of program for female pelvic floor dysfunction. He is also a member of the staff of Gynaecology. 

His research is mainly translational and dedicated to surgical treatment options as well as cell therapy solutions for (prevention of) pelvic floor dysfunction. His clinical research into urogynaecology is focused on the use of imaging, outcomes of implant surgery and surgical treatment of level I defects. 

He published over 470 peer reviewed papers and supervises/d over 25 doctoral students.

He is Editor of Prenatal Diagnosis (Section: Fetal Imaging and Therapy), Editor in Chief Gynaecologic

Surgery (2013), and International Editorial Board member of BJOG. He is board member of the national society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (V.V.O.G) where he is chairing the scientific committee. He serves on the scientific committee of ESGE and EUGA

Dr Guri Oron, BlueWind Medical

Dr Guri Oron has co-founded Bluewind and been with the company since its inception. He has over 15 years of experience in executive R&D roles, primarily with startups in the medical device field with specific expertise in Neurostimulation technologies. Throughout his career Dr Oron managed complex R&D projects from their ideation through design, engineering, regulatory and clinical development. Prior to working with BlueWind Medical, led the R&D at BrainsGate and before that in defence R&D roles. Dr Oron holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University. He is the lead inventor or co-inventor of numerous patent and patent pending applications.

Dr Pedro Martins, University of Porto

Pedro Martins is a Postdoctoral researcher (INEGI, FEUP) and Invited Assistant Professor, in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Porto University (FEUP, Portugal). Pedro completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with application to biomechanics, at FEUP. His undergraduate studies, in theoretical physics, were developed at the Faculty of Sciences of Porto University (FCUP). His research has been focused on the mechanical properties of biological tissues and biomaterials. He has studied the female pelvic floor tissues, under normal and pathological conditions. He has collaborated with several researchers, on multidisciplinary research projects, on domains that range from applied mechanics to image processing. He his author and co-author of more than 40 research papers, was awarded 3 individual merit fellowships and has is the PI of 3 research projects in the field of Biomechanics.

Ms Alison Wilson, CellData Services

Alison Wilson is an independent regulatory affairs consultant with over 25 years’ experience in medicinal products, cell-based therapies and medical devices. She is a nominated UK expert for ISO (International Standards Organisation) TC150/WG 11 - Tissue Engineered Medical Products, and a member of the British Standards Institute Regenerative Medicine Technical Panel. Alison is a Module Advisor for the TOPRA MSc in Regulatory Affairs. She has contributed to several BSI cell therapy publications and has several publications on regulation of regenerative medicine products.  

Alison provides strategic regulatory and development advice for companies developing commercialise advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and regenerative medicine therapies in the EU. Alison is a Fellow of TOPRA and in 2014 received the first TOPRA Futures Award for contribution to regulatory science in new technology areas.