Biographical Summary
Anthony Atala, M.D.
Prepared by the Public Relations Office

Anthony Atala, M.D., is the Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Health Sciences and the Chair of the Department of Urology. He is a surgeon, researcher and expert on regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. His current work focuses on growing new human tissues and organs (including kidney, blood vessels, heart, cartilage, bone, muscle, bladder, liver, pancreas, and others) to repair or replace tissues or organs damaged by age, cancer, trauma, or abnormal development.

Dr. Atala currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Vice-President of the Society of Regenerative Medicine, a member of the Board of Governors of the Tissue Engineering Society, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Regenerate International Conference, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bladder Foundation. Dr. Atala is an Editor for several journals, including the Journal of Rejuvenation research, The Scientific World, Tissue Engineering, New Techniques / Technologies, the Journal of Urology, and the Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques: Endosurgery and Innovative Techniques.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Atala has held numerous visiting appointments worldwide and has received numerous awards and honors, including the US Congress funded Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, bestowed on a living American who is currently working on a discovery that will significantly affect society, the Gold Cystoscope Award for contributions to his field, and was named by Scientific American as a Medical Treatments Leader of the Year, for his contributions to the fields of cell, tissue and organ regeneration.

Dr. Atala has led or served several national professional and government committees, including the National Institutes of Health working group on Cells and Developmental Biology, and the National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium. Dr. Atala heads a team of 25 physicians and researchers. Ten applications of technologies developed in Dr. Atala's laboratory have been used clinically. He is the editor of 5 books, has published more than 200 journal articles or book chapters, more than 250 abstracts, and has applied for or received over 150 national and international patents.