Dr. Teruo Okano Honored by National Institute for Materials Science
Dr. Teruo Okano was granted the 2022 NIMS Award from the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan! This prestigious award is given to a distinguished person or a group who has made significant progress in Materials Science, nominated by leading scientists and judged by the NIMS Award Committee of experts. Dr. Okano and the two other awardees will give keynote lectures during NIMS Weeks in November 2022 at the Tokyo International Forum.
Dr. Okano is an Emeritus Professor and Specially Appointed Consultant at Tokyo Women’s Medical University in Japan as well as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Director of the Cell Sheet Tissue Engineering Center (CSTEC), School of Medicine and College of Pharmacy at the University of Utah. His NIMS Award was based on his achievements in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Okano invented sumart surfaces which change surface property from hydrophobic (cell adhesive) at 37℃ to hydrophilic at room temperature (cell non-adhesive) and "Cell Sheet Engineering.” Based on this unique tissue engineering regenerative therapy, autologous cell sheet regenerative therapies have started to treat human patients in many areas of the body including the cornea, esophagus, middle ear chambers, heart, lungs, and cartilage in Japan and Europe.
Dr. Okano directs CSTEC in the Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Utah. Since 2016 his center has trailblazed research and development of allogeneic cell sheet regenerative therapy focused on knee cartilage, kidneys, the liver, and the uterus in collaboration with the School of Medicine.
Congratulations to Dr. Okano for this well-deserved recognition of your work!