Diego Correa
Diego Correa currently holds a joint appointment as Assistant Professor between the Department of Orthopaedics - Division of Sports Medicine and the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Correa’s academic activities are centered on the development of standardized and reproducible Regenerative Medicine-based therapeutic alternatives, supported by both cell therapy and tissue engineering approaches. His laboratory studies the biology of adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) as essential component, and the derivation of potential therapeutic protocols for musculoskeletal conditions and during islet cell transplantation in type 1 Diabetes. The former includes the identification and testing of distinct functional subpopulations of cells; their progenitor, immunomodulatory and trophic activities and their intercellular communication through exosome-type of microvesicles, using both in vitro and in vivo models. The latter includes testing the developed products in pre-clinical proof-of-concept animal models and supporting collaborative clinical research efforts. In addition, Dr. Correa holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment at the Department of Biology - Skeletal Research Center at Case Western Reserve University, where he continues interacting with Professor Arnold Caplan participating in various research areas and funded projects. Dr. Correa finished Medical School at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá (Colombia). During his medical practice, he enrolled in an MSc program in Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá (Colombia), where he started the research area of Tissue Engineering and received the Engineering School Fellowship. He then received his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Yale University where he was recipient of the George Robert Pfeiffer Fellowship from the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation. Dr. Correa then moved to Harvard University where he completed his graduate dissertation. He then joined the laboratory of professor Arnold Caplan at Case Western Reserve University, initially as postdoctoral fellow and then as Sr. Research Associate, leading the projects related with the use of MSCs in the areas of Orthopaedic Tissue Engineering and the description of their role during the process of distant Cancer Metastasis. Throughout his career, Dr. Correa has approached Medicine and Science in a multidisciplinary manner, using the musculoskeletal system as a primary platform. He has analyzed it from various perspectives, including a clinical view of skeletal diseases, an engineering analysis of tissue mechanical properties, a basic science study of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of skeletal development using genetic models, and the development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat skeletal diseases based on stem cell therapy. He is an expert in in MSC biology and their clinical applications in Regenerative Medicine. He holds various patents; is author and co-author of a significant number of scientific publications in recognized journals; serves on the editorial board and as peer reviewer of several recognized scientific journals and various national and international funding agencies (e.g.: CIRM); and is an invited speaker and lecturer in national and international scientific and medical meetings.
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