Dr. Jeremy J. Mao, DDS, Ph.D is an Oral Surgeon and research scientist.  He is the Director of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory(TERML) at Columbia University, as well as a Professor of Dental Medicine and Zegarelli Endowed Chair at the University.  Dr. Mao is also a Director of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration. 

Dr. Mao has published over 300 scientific papers, book chapters, conference proceedings and other articles in the areas of tissue engineering, stem cells and regenerative medicine.

He also serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, and as a consultant for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and dozens of other private and international grant agencies.

Dr. Mao's laboratory at  Columbia University holds dozens of patents in the areas of stem cell biology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.  Dr. Mao has given over 340 plenary, keynote, endowed and invited lectures in the fields of stem cell biology and tissue engineering. 

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, Director of the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, and of the Stem Cell Imaging Core. She co-directs the NIH Tissue Engineering Resource Center and Columbia’s Center for Craniofacial Regeneration.

The focus of her research is on engineering functional human tissues using stem cells, biomaterials and bioreactors, for application in regenerative medicine, stem cell research, and the study of tissue development and disease.

She published 2 books, 50 book chapters, and 230 peer-reviewed articles that were cited over 8,000 times. She has 40 patents. Gordana has served as a Distinguished Editor for NIH, scientific advisor for the HHMI, on the Continental Chapter Council of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, as the chair of the Biomaterials and Biointerfaces study section, and on editorial boards of 10 journals.

In 2002, she was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. In 2007, she gave the Director’ lecture at the NIH; the first woman engineer to receive this distinction. In 2008, she was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame “for developing biological substitutes to restore, maintain or improve tissue function”. In 2010, she received the Clemson Award of the Biomaterials Society “for significant contributions to the literature on biomaterials”.

David A. Matzilevich, MD, is a leading stem cell researcher whose work focuses on stem cell based therapeutic approaches. Prior to dedicating himself to stem cell research, Dr. Matzilevich was a faculty member at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His work there involved identification of molecular endophrenotypes and suseptibility genes involved in the pathogensis of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Dr. Matzilevich received his MD, PhD from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, UK. Following his studies in London, Dr. Matzilevich received a fellowship in the Department of Pathology at Tufts Medical School in Boston and went on to the University of Texas Medical Center at Houston in the Department of Neuroscience and the Keck Center for Neurology and Neurosurgery where he worked on the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of neurological disorders. Dr. Matzilevich is currently involved in several clinical trials using adult stem cells for treating neurological disorders. 

Dr. Matzilevich lectures extensively on stem cells, holds several patents and has published over 30 peer reviewed articles and papers. Dr. Matzilevich appears frequently on TV, radio, industry and scientific journals as well as mainstream print media as an acknowledged stem cell expert.

George T.-J. Huang, DDS, MSD, DSc is the Director of Stem Cells and Regenerative Therapies and Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, Department of Bioscience Research.

Prior to his Directorship, Dr. Huang was the Chair and Herbert Schilder Professor in Endodontics and Director, Postgraduate Program in Endodontics of Boston University’s Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Huang has published more than 100 research articles, review articles, book chapters and abstracts including papers in Stem Cells and Development, Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Infection and Immunity, Human Gene Therapy, Journal of Dental Research and Journal of Endodontics; book chapter in Principles of Regenerative Medicine, etc.

His research has been funded by various sources including NIH and AAE Foundation. His current research interest is in the area of stem cells and regenerative medicine with particular emphasis on the generation and characterization of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from dental stem cells, which may prove to be an indefinite cell source for tissue regeneration, and stem cell-based dental tissue regeneration utilizing adult stem cells and tissue engineering methods to regenerate lost tooth structure.

The focus is on characterizing dental stem cells including dental pulp stem cell (DPSCs), stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP), stem cells from human exfoliated teeth (SHED), and periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and utilizing these stem/progenitor cells to regenerate dental tissues including dental pulp, dentin, cementum and periodontal ligament.