McEwen Stem Cell Institute

The McEwen Stem Cell Institute is University Health Network's stem cell and regenerative medicine institute. It was established in 2018 out of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, which Rob and Cheryl McEwen helped create in 2007. Directed by Gordon Keller, it is organized around four core programs: blood, diabetes, heart, and liver. Its type 1 diabetes work belongs to Maria Cristina Nostro's laboratory, which generates functional pancreatic beta cells from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. The goal is transplantable insulin-producing tissue that can be manufactured rather than recovered from donors. Diabetes is one program of four, so this is not a T1D institute; the others work on blood, heart including biological pacemakers, and liver disease.

Location

Toronto, Ontario, Canada