On February 28, 2012, the Higher Center for Research (HCR) at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) organized a conference entitled “Natural and Artificial Scaffolds for Tracheobronchial Tissue Engineered Replacements”, given by Prof. Paolo Macchiarini of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. This event, held in collaboration with the USEK Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences and the Notre-Dame de Secours University Hospital in Jbeil, attracted many students and a number of senior members of the medical profession.

Specializing in thoracic surgery, Prof. Macchiarini is a pioneer in regenerative surgery and tissue engineering.

In his presentation, which focused on cell therapy and tissue regeneration, the speaker described the steps of the first transplant of a synthetic windpipe coated with stem cells in a cancer patient. This surgery, the first of its kind worldwide, is the result of an international collaboration between scientists and clinicians.

The synthetic trachea, designed and built from nanocomposite materials, is seeded with stem cells taken from the patient and placed in a bioreactor. This double surgical and technological achievement paves the way for the fabrication of custom-made organs, so there will no longer be any need to wait until a compatible donor is found. In addition, the inestimable advantage of this technique is that it eliminates the risk of rejection and the need to take immunosuppressive drugs.

Prof. Macchiarini revealed that the next breakthrough in technology will be applying this technique to children, further improving the approaches adopted in the regenerative medicine of the trachea and extending its application to the lungs, heart and esophagus. He went on to say that this same regenerative medicine technique will be used in the future to restore cells damaged by aging and diseases.

A debate followed the 45-minute conference.