{"id":48842,"date":"2017-07-11T09:17:46","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T13:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=48842"},"modified":"2017-07-14T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T17:45:53","slug":"mostoslavsky-wins-innovator-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2017\/07\/11\/mostoslavsky-wins-innovator-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"CReM\u2019s Mostoslavsky Wins BU\u2019s Innovator of the Year Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"COM_butoday_INNOVATOR\"
Gustavo Mostoslavsky\u2019s lab invented a tool that made more efficient the creation of cells that might help heal patients with damaged tissues. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those who know ancient history\u2014the first decade of the 21st century\u2014recall that embryonic stem cell research was a combustible issue, with supporters cheering the potential to create new tissues from stem cells and\u00a0<\/span>opponents decrying<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>the destruction of human embryos that it required. A breakthrough arrived in 2006, when a Japanese researcher developed\u00a0<\/span>induced pluripotent stem cells<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(iPS), adult cells that behaved like embryonic stem cells and had an amazing ability to develop into muscles, skin, nerves, and almost any other cell type. Two years later, a second breakthrough, this one by\u00a0<\/span>Gustavo Mostoslavsky<\/a>, a School of Medicine associate professor of gastroenterology,\u00a0<\/span>produced a tool\u00a0<\/span><\/a>that made it simpler and more efficient to generate iPS. BU patented his tool, called STEMCCA, and he says that it\u2019s been adopted by more than 700 laboratories worldwide for making iPS.<\/p>\n

That contribution to the field has earned Mostoslavsky this year\u2019s University Innovator of the Year award. The\u00a0<\/span>Technology Development<\/a>\u00a0office presents the award to a faculty member whose research yields inventions or innovations benefiting society. Mostoslavsky will receive the award at BU\u2019s annual\u00a0<\/span>Tech, Drugs, and Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>networking event connecting BU researchers and Boston entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was humbly surprised and happy,\u201d he says, when Gloria Waters, vice president and associate provost for research, emailed him the news. \u201cSometimes it is easy to lose perspective when we get busy on the many tasks of running a lab\u2014grant writing, mentoring, budget, and so forth\u2014so I guess it is nice, once in a while, to just stop and enjoy the moment, enjoy what we have done so far, and even better, if on the way we have helped many others succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way Mostoslavsky has helped others succeed\u2014the way that makes him most proud, he says\u2014is to have cofounded, in 2010, BU\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Center for Regenerative Medicine<\/a>, which he codirects. The center, which pursues stem cell research with an emphasis on lung, blood, and gastrointestinal tract diseases, practices open source biology: sharing its discoveries with scientists around the world for free rather than patenting them. In 2013, CReM moved into its own physical quarters on Albany Street on the Medical Campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am delighted to see Dr. Mostoslavsky\u2019s colleagues choose him for this award,\u201d says Waters. \u201cSTEMCCA has dramatically improved the efficiency with which new stem cells can be generated to treat disease. His success in patenting a tool that has become industry-standard, at the same time as he and the codirectors of the CReM have become renowned for their open source biology, serves as a model to students and other researchers of how to advance science through sharing, at the same time protecting important intellectual property.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in ‘BU Today’ on Tuesday, July 11 and was written by Rich Barlow. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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