Dr. Badylak is a Professor in the Department of Surgery, a deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM), and directs a laboratory focused upon the use of biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) to facilitate functional tissue and organ reconstruction.Dr. Badylak received his DVM from Purdue University. He then obtained an MS in Clinical Pathology and a PhD in Anatomic Pathology from Purdue University and graduated with highest honors with a MD from Indiana University Medical School. He began his academic career at Purdue University as an Assistant Research Scholar at the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center in 1983, and eventually served as Director of the Center from 1993-1998. Dr. Badylak was also a Senior Research Scientist within the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He is a charter member and the past President of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) and has served as the Chair of the Study Section for the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as chair of the Bioengineering, Technology, and Surgical Sciences (BTSS) Study Section at NIH. Dr. Badylak is currently a member of the College of Scientific Reviewers for the NIH.Dr. Badylak holds over 60 U.S. patents, 300 patents worldwide, has authored more than 350 scientific publications and 40 book chapters. Dr. Badylak has served as Chairman or been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board to several major medical device companies. Dr. Badylak is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a charter member of the Tissue Engineering Society International. He is also a member of the Society for Biomaterials and editor in chief of the Journal of Immunology and Regenerative Medicine. He has received many awards, including the Sigma Xi Scientific Society 2002 Research Award, the Pittsburgh Business Times Hero in Health Care Innovation & Research for 2005, the 2005 and 2008 Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence, the 2005 Clemson Award from the Society for Biomaterials, the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in 2008, and the TERMIS (America’s Chapter) Senior Scientist Award in 2012.

Christine Finck, MD, FACS is the Executive Vice President, Surgeon-in-Chief and Peter Deckers Endowed Chair of Surgery at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She has served as Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery since 2007 and is an associate professor of pediatrics and surgery at UCONN Health. Most recently, she took on the role of Surgeon-in-Chief, advocating for various clinical, academic and research efforts across the institution and serving as a mentor to pediatric research investigators.Through her own research, Dr. Finck is revolutionizing health outcomes of pediatric and neonatal diseases, most specifically spearheading efforts focused on identifying and treating those that affect the lungs and esophagus. Those innovations were recognized by The Group on Women in Medicine and Science, who awarded Dr. Finck the Outstanding Clinical Scientist Woman Faculty Award.Dr. Finck received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and her medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University at Syracuse. She completed a surgery residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University at Syracuse and a pediatric surgery fellowship at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Scientist Award in 2012.

Dr. Charles S. Cox, Jr., is the George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Neurosciences and directs the Pediatric Surgical Translational Laboratories and Pediatric Program in Regenerative Medicine at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School.

He directs the Pediatric Trauma Program at the UTHealth Medical School/Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.A Texas native, Dr. Cox received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors Program. Upon graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch, he completed his Surgery residency at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Further post-graduate fellowships were completed in Pediatric Surgery at the University of Michigan, an NIH T32 sponsored clinical and research fellowship in cardiopulmonary support/circulatory support devices/bio-hybrid organs at the Shriner’s Burns Institute, and Surgical Critical Care/Trauma at UTHealth Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery in Surgery, with added qualifications in Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.The Pediatric Translational Laboratories and Pediatric Program in Regenerative Medicine is a multi-disciplinary effort that addresses problems that originate with traumatic injury and the consequences of resuscitation and critical care. The Program focuses on progenitor cell-based therapy (stem cells) for traumatic brain injury, and related neurological injuries (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, stroke, spinal cord injury), recently completing the first acute, autologous cell therapy treatment Phase I study for traumatic brain injury in children.The program also develops novel bio-hybrid organs using cell-based and tissue engineering approaches to trauma and injury related problems. These efforts have recently resulted in two IND based cell therapeutic studies, and three patents in the past two years. The program is funded through the National Institutes of Health, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Industry Collaboration, and philanthropic contributions.Dr. Cox has served on scientific study sections/review groups for the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Veterans Affairs MERIT Awards, Department of Defense,Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, as well as National Research Programs in Canada, Singapore, and the Czech Republic. He is the author of over 100 scientific publications, 20  book chapters, and is the editor of a text in press entitled, Progenitor Cell Therapy for Neurological Injury.