$2.9 million NIH Quantum Grant for Neuro-Vascular Regeneration to help stroke patients

For the first time Quantum Grant goes for international research initiative to regenerate damaged brain cells and blood vessels for the treatment of stroke which occurs when an artery in the brain is blocked. The three-year, $2.9 million grant, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the NIH, will support research on neuro-vascular regeneration, which will make new brain tissues in the laboratory. The new brain tissue is planned to have its own blood supply to allow it to be placed into the damaged brains of stroke patients where it will provide a source of neural and vascular cells that will continue to develop and differentiate, repairing the injured tissue in the process. Main participants are: Karen Hirschi, deputy director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center within the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Jennifer West of Rice University, Department of Bioengineering, Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the division of developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research in London. Link

So this will mainly be a tissue engineering approach for brain regeneration, that is growing implantable brain tissue in vitro in a bioreactor with working blood vessels in it, which needs the combination of more then 2 differentiated cell types. Hard task. My questions: What kind of stem or progenitor cells will be the sources of neural cells? What is the planned volume of the tissue constructs? What type of neurosurgery is needed for a successful implantation?

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