NSF Engines: Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine

The Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (the Piedmont Triad Engine) is working to build an ecosystem around strong assets in the field of regenerative medicine (RM) based at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) in collaboration with its extensive network of partners. Located in the Piedmont Triad region of central North Carolina, the Engine will provide the resources to accelerate transition of use-inspired RM technologies into commercial products, creating an economic driver for the region and its diverse communities. This growth in the RM industry helps to address long-term regional challenges related to retraining and upskilling of an underemployed local workforce left behind by the loss of tobacco, textiles and furniture jobs throughout the region of service. The project prioritizes building a technical infrastructure for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the region to reduce disparities for underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Regenerative medicine promises to offer permanent cures rather than relief from symptoms, which is an important advance given rising healthcare costs. The goal is to break the cycle of dependence on lifelong maintenance drugs and therapies. Areas of technical focus include standardized materials and processes for the production of RM products that can be brought to market. Industry partners and community stakeholders will drive the direction of the technology development, while allowing for creative innovation through the academic research environment. Technologies born from the Piedmont Triad Engine will be commercialized through a robust business development system, giving rise to new companies and increased workforce demand that will be met by the Piedmont Triad Engine’s partners including two-year community and technical colleges.This NSF Engine will be built upon industry use-inspired and guided research spanning product ideation and development, translational science, biomanufacturing, and next generation strategies, including In-Space RM technologies. An Innovation, Translation, & Education Core system will be developed across partnering academic institutions, including at HBCUs and technical colleges in the region of service, that combines multiple areas of scientific expertise to address challenges in the multidisciplinary field of RM. The resources provided by the Piedmont Triad Engine will increase the region’s competitive advantage and leverage its national reputation as a hub for the RM industry, attracting more capital and new companies to the region.The Piedmont Triad Engine will have transformative impact on the region by creating a new trained RM workforce that will give the U.S. a competitive edge in the development and manufacture of next-generation RM therapies with potential to impact millions of individuals worldwide. RM businesses that emerge from technical innovations will be economic drivers, attracting investment from stakeholders across the nation. Creation of new RM products and businesses will create self-sustaining regional prosperity with economic impact for many communities in the region, including historically disadvantaged Black communities in the Piedmont Triad region.This NSF Engine project is built on a strong research and development portfolio at WFIRM and emphasizes the translation to practice and commercialization steps of building an innovation ecosystem in partnership with strong workforce development organizations already in the region of service. Biomedical technologies and the RM industry show strong alignment with the priorities of the region of service, which was reinforced by the strong showing of enthusiastic partners who engaged with the site visit team. The leadership is ready to utilize the NSF Engine resources to bridge the gap between the research lab and the commercial market without leaving the local community behind. Community engagement and workforce training will be key to the success of the Piedmont Triad Engine.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.