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Stem cell applications and research highlight NJIT's first Research Cafe

Stem cell researcher Treena Livingston Arinzeh will discuss current stem cell applications at NJIT, including the regeneration of bone and cartilage for bone fracture and osteoarthritis treatments, spinal cord repair, and liver regeneration at NJIT's first Research Café.

The event will be held Sept. 29, 2009, at 4:30 PM in the faculty dining area on the third floor of the NJIT Campus Center. The public is invited and refreshments will be served. For more information, call Jay Kappraff, 973-596-3490.

Arinzeh, an associate professor and interim chair of the biomedical engineering department at NJIT, has earned national recognition for her commitment to making adult stem cell therapy a future reality. Her research interests include applied biomaterials and tissue engineering; cell-biomaterial interaction; materials processing; surface characterization and modification of biomaterials. Other interests include materials testing; in vivo models; tissue-engineering scaffolds for repair of bone and other related musculoskeletal tissues. She also studies nerve tissue regeneration.

Since the discovery of the embryonic stem cell about a decade ago, stem cells have been of great interest in the medical community because of their ability to turn into any cell type in the body and therefore, their potential to regenerate tissue in the body.

These are not the only stem cells. Stem cells have been used for treating blood disorders in humans for the past several decades. Adult stem cells that come from blood and bone marrow were discovered well before embryonic stem cells. They differ from embryonic stem cells in that they can't turn into every cell type of the body. They can only turn into certain cell types and therefore, have limited clinical application.

NJIT, New Jersey's science and technology university, at the edge in knowledge, enrolls more than 8,400 students in bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 92 degree programs offered by six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, Albert Dorman Honors College and College of Computing Sciences. NJIT is renowned for expertise in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. In 2009, Princeton Review named NJIT among the nation's top 25 campuses for technology and among the top 150 for best value. U.S. News & World Report's 2008 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities.

Contact: Sheryl Weinstein, director, public relations, Sheryl.m.weinstein@njit.edu, 973-596-3436.

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