A big thanks to Dr. Anya (Ganna) Bilousova for presenting at our last spotlight.
Next quarter’s spotlight will feature Dr. Luis Garza of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Garza will present on his clinical trial of volar fibroblast transplantation into the stump site of lower-limb amputees. Register Today for the event on Thursday, June 25th at 1:00-2:00 PM ET.
Presentation Abstract: Amputees who use prosthetics may find them painful or result in skin problems at the stump site. In part, this arises because the skin at the stump site is not naturally designed to bear weight, making it difficult for the site to adapt to pressure or tolerate mechanical loads. Preclinical work demonstrated that volar fibroblast transplantation increases markers of volar skin such as keratin 9 expression, epidermal thickness, and extracellular matrix remodeling, leading to skin that is more pressure resistant and less prone to breakdown. This clinical research employs a regenerative strategy in which ectopic volar fibroblasts are extracted from the palm and sole of the foot and autologously transplanted into the stump site. Dr. Luis Garza of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will present on an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial in lower-limb amputees testing the efficacy of this approach to reduce ulceration, pain, and prosthesis-related complications, thereby improving function and quality of life for amputees.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this spotlight.
Publications
Congratulations to the following study teams for their recent publications or preprints:
Bain JD, Mei Y, et al., Progress and challenges in transplantation of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for cardiac therapy. NPJ Biomed Innov. 2026;3(1):2. doi: 10.1038/s44385-025-00048-4.
Kohn A, Kotton DN, et al., Targeted Preconditioning and Cell Transplantation in the Murine Lower Respiratory Tract. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2026 Feb 1;74(2):155-166. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2024-0597MA.
Alber AB, Kotton DN, et al., Bidirectional fibrogenic cross-talk revealed in a human iPSC-derived epithelial-mesenchymal co-culture model of pulmonary fibrosis. bioRxiv. 2026 Jan 31;. doi: 10.64898/2026.01.30.702837.
Larsen MC, Kimple RJ, et al., IFNγ and TNFα optimize salivary gland mesenchymal stromal cells: an alternative to marrow- and adipose-MSCs for radiation xerostomia. Regen Ther. 2025 Dec;30:1086-1100. doi: 10.1016/j.reth.2025.11.004.
Farjood F, Stern JH, et al., Single-cell transcriptome and surfaceome profiling of the adult human retinal pigment epithelium. Stem Cell Reports. 2025 Sep 9;20(9):102611. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2025.102611.
Bigit B, Djalilian AR, et al., Mechanisms of Corneal Nerve Regeneration: Examining Molecular Regulators. Cells. 2025 Aug 27;14(17). doi: 10.3390/cells14171322.
If you have recently submitted or published a manuscript related to your RMIP award, please submit the citation to jstratford@rti.org.
Acknowledging RMIC in publications
For publications that include data generated by the In-Depth Cell Characterization Hub and processed on BioData Catalyst by the Data Management Core, we kindly ask that investigators acknowledge our contribution in the acknowledgements section of their manuscript. To make this easier, we have prepared some suggested language for use:
The authors acknowledge the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project (Grant #) and the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Catalyst (RMIC) In-Depth Cell Characterization Hub at the University of Maryland Baltimore (PCTC Supplement, IDCCH Contract, University of Maryland Baltimore Osborne fund) and the Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing at Georgia Institute of Technology (Marcus Foundation Fund) for generating molecular profile data and for providing assistance with the initial analysis that supported this study. We’d also like to acknowledge the BioData Catalyst Data Management Core (Cooperative Agreement OT2HL167310) for their expert assistance in the aggregation, management, and dissemination of the molecular and phenotype data utilized in this study, enabled by the analytical platform of the BioData Catalyst ecosystem.
We appreciate your support in recognizing the role of these efforts in advancing your research.
Meet with Us
BDC now has office hours each Wednesday from 2:00 to 3:00 PM ET to assist investigators with aggregating and harmonizing RMIP study data on the ecosystem.
We continue to coordinate one-on-one meetings with study teams to discuss a data linkage strategy. This strategy will ensure that the cell characterization data is prepared and formatted appropriately for seamless sharing with the study team. The goal is to facilitate efficient data transfer and analysis.
Jeran Stratford
March 2026 RMIP Updates
RMIP Research Spotlight
A big thanks to Dr. Anya (Ganna) Bilousova for presenting at our last spotlight.
Next quarter’s spotlight will feature Dr. Luis Garza of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Garza will present on his clinical trial of volar fibroblast transplantation into the stump site of lower-limb amputees. Register Today for the event on Thursday, June 25th at 1:00-2:00 PM ET.
Presentation Abstract: Amputees who use prosthetics may find them painful or result in skin problems at the stump site. In part, this arises because the skin at the stump site is not naturally designed to bear weight, making it difficult for the site to adapt to pressure or tolerate mechanical loads. Preclinical work demonstrated that volar fibroblast transplantation increases markers of volar skin such as keratin 9 expression, epidermal thickness, and extracellular matrix remodeling, leading to skin that is more pressure resistant and less prone to breakdown. This clinical research employs a regenerative strategy in which ectopic volar fibroblasts are extracted from the palm and sole of the foot and autologously transplanted into the stump site. Dr. Luis Garza of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will present on an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial in lower-limb amputees testing the efficacy of this approach to reduce ulceration, pain, and prosthesis-related complications, thereby improving function and quality of life for amputees.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this spotlight.
Publications
Congratulations to the following study teams for their recent publications or preprints:
Bain JD, Mei Y, et al., Progress and challenges in transplantation of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for cardiac therapy. NPJ Biomed Innov. 2026;3(1):2. doi: 10.1038/s44385-025-00048-4.
Kohn A, Kotton DN, et al., Targeted Preconditioning and Cell Transplantation in the Murine Lower Respiratory Tract. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2026 Feb 1;74(2):155-166. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2024-0597MA.
Alber AB, Kotton DN, et al., Bidirectional fibrogenic cross-talk revealed in a human iPSC-derived epithelial-mesenchymal co-culture model of pulmonary fibrosis. bioRxiv. 2026 Jan 31;. doi: 10.64898/2026.01.30.702837.
Larsen MC, Kimple RJ, et al., IFNγ and TNFα optimize salivary gland mesenchymal stromal cells: an alternative to marrow- and adipose-MSCs for radiation xerostomia. Regen Ther. 2025 Dec;30:1086-1100. doi: 10.1016/j.reth.2025.11.004.
Farjood F, Stern JH, et al., Single-cell transcriptome and surfaceome profiling of the adult human retinal pigment epithelium. Stem Cell Reports. 2025 Sep 9;20(9):102611. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2025.102611.
Bigit B, Djalilian AR, et al., Mechanisms of Corneal Nerve Regeneration: Examining Molecular Regulators. Cells. 2025 Aug 27;14(17). doi: 10.3390/cells14171322.
If you have recently submitted or published a manuscript related to your RMIP award, please submit the citation to jstratford@rti.org.
Acknowledging RMIC in publications
For publications that include data generated by the In-Depth Cell Characterization Hub and processed on BioData Catalyst by the Data Management Core, we kindly ask that investigators acknowledge our contribution in the acknowledgements section of their manuscript. To make this easier, we have prepared some suggested language for use:
The authors acknowledge the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project (Grant #) and the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Catalyst (RMIC) In-Depth Cell Characterization Hub at the University of Maryland Baltimore (PCTC Supplement, IDCCH Contract, University of Maryland Baltimore Osborne fund) and the Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing at Georgia Institute of Technology (Marcus Foundation Fund) for generating molecular profile data and for providing assistance with the initial analysis that supported this study. We’d also like to acknowledge the BioData Catalyst Data Management Core (Cooperative Agreement OT2HL167310) for their expert assistance in the aggregation, management, and dissemination of the molecular and phenotype data utilized in this study, enabled by the analytical platform of the BioData Catalyst ecosystem.
We appreciate your support in recognizing the role of these efforts in advancing your research.
Meet with Us
BDC now has office hours each Wednesday from 2:00 to 3:00 PM ET to assist investigators with aggregating and harmonizing RMIP study data on the ecosystem.
We continue to coordinate one-on-one meetings with study teams to discuss a data linkage strategy. This strategy will ensure that the cell characterization data is prepared and formatted appropriately for seamless sharing with the study team. The goal is to facilitate efficient data transfer and analysis.