Anthony Atala (born July 14, 1958) is an American bioengineer, urologist, and pediatric surgeon. He holds the W.H. Boyce professorship in urology, serves as the founding director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and chairs the Department of Urology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina. His work focuses on regenerative medicine, a field that uses healthy cells from the body to repair or replace damaged tissues.

Dr. Atala created the first 3D bioprinters, known as the Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing System (ITOP), and is a leading expert in organ printing. He and his team developed the first lab-grown organ (a bladder) that was successfully implanted into a human. He is also working on experimental technology to 3D print human tissue as needed.

As director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Atala leads a team of more than 400 researchers who develop cell therapies and engineer replacement tissues and organs for over 40 parts of the body.

Dr. Atala is an editor for three journals and has written 25 books, including Principles of Regenerative Medicine and Foundations of Regenerative Medicine. He has published more than 800 scientific articles and holds over 250 patents. Fifteen technologies developed in his laboratory are currently used in medical treatments.

He is a member of the editorial board for the journal Rejuvenation Research, serves on the national board of advisors for High Point University, and is part of the research advisory board for the SENS Research Foundation. He is a founding member of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) and received its Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Atala also directs the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, a government-funded organization focused on applying regenerative medicine.

Biography

Atala was born in Peru and raised in Coral Gables, Florida. He attended the University of Miami and earned an undergraduate degree in psychology. He studied medicine at the University of Louisville, where he also completed his residency in urology. He completed his fellowship at the Harvard Medical School–affiliated Boston Children's Hospital from 1990 to 1992, where he trained under world-renowned pediatric.

Career

Atala was the director of the Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Cellular Therapeutics at Boston Children's Hospital. His work there included growing human tissues and organs to replace ones that are damaged by disease or birth defects. This work became important because there were not enough organs available for people in need.

Atala continued his research in tissue engineering and printable organs after moving to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2004.

Along with researchers from Harvard University, and as reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology, Atala announced that stem cells with great potential can be collected from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women. These amniotic fluid stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can be changed into different types of mature cells that form nerve, muscle, bone, and other tissues. They also avoid problems like tumor formation and the ethical concerns linked to embryonic stem cells.

Regarding amniotic fluid stem cells ("AFS" cells), Atala stated the following:

Atala's work was used by opponents of the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Bill (a part of the 100-Hour Plan of the Democratic Party in the 110th United States Congress) as a more ethical alternative. He wrote a letter saying, among other things, "Some may be interpreting my research as a replacement for other regenerative medicine therapies, such as those involving embryonic stem cells. I disagree with that statement."

Awards

Atala has received many honors for his scientific achievements. His faculty website lists the following awards and recognitions:

• Elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011
• Elected as one of the first members of the National Academy of Inventors in 2013
• Elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2016
• The Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, given to a living American working on a discovery that could greatly impact society
• The World Technology Award in Health and Medicine, presented to individuals who have made significant, lasting progress in 2011
• The Samuel D. Gross Prize, awarded every five years to a leading surgical researcher in the United States
• The Barringer Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons
• The Gold Cystoscope Award (2000) from the American Urological Association for advances in the field
• The American Ingenuity Award for Life Sciences, awarded by Smithsonian magazine (2016)
• The Innovation Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for the creation of synthetic organs
• The Rocovich Gold Medal, awarded to a scientist who has made a major impact on science
• The 2013 Edison Awards
• The 2016 Smithsonian Ingenuity Award
• The 2016 R&D Magazine Innovator of the Year Award for his work with bioprinting
• Named by Nature Biotechnology as one of the top 10 translational researchers in the world
• Listed by Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review as one of the top influencers in the life sciences intellectual property field
• Named by U.S. News & World Report as one of 14 Pioneers of Medical Progress in the 21st Century
• Named by Scientific American as one of the world's most influential people in biotechnology and as a Medical Treatments Leader of the Year in 2015 for contributions to cell, tissue, and organ regeneration
• Dr. Atala's work has been listed twice as one of Time magazine's top ten medical breakthroughs of the year and once as one of five discoveries that will change the future of organ transplantation
• Featured as Discover magazine's top science story of the year in medicine in 2007.