{"681369":{"#nid":"681369","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Curing the Incurable: Georgia Tech\u2019s $40M Medical Mission ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech stands on the brink of a medical revolution, fueled by a monumental award from the Marcus Foundation. This transformative $40 million endeavor, with a principal investment of $20 million from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/marcusfoundation.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMarcus Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E, promises to make high-quality, life-saving cell therapies more affordable, reliable, and accessible than ever before.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis was among the final initiatives personally directed by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/marcusfoundation.org\/#obituary\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBernie Marcus,\u003C\/a\u003E the philanthropist, entrepreneur, and The Home Depot co-founder, before his passing in November 2024. Marcus invited Georgia Tech President \u00c1ngel Cabrera to his home in Boca Raton, Florida, to discuss Georgia Tech\u2019s capability to usher in a new era of regenerative medicine.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019ll never forget my conversation with Bernie,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cHis challenge to Georgia Tech was clear: Use our engineering expertise to make cell therapies more accessible and cost-effective and develop cures for incurable diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis generous award is a testament to our shared belief in the power of innovation and technology to improve lives, and it\u2019s an honor for Georgia Tech to fulfill Bernie\u2019s vision for the future of healthcare,\u201d he added.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe funding will ignite innovation at Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cellmanufacturing.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EMarcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing\u003C\/a\u003E, formerly named the\u202fMarcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing, which has been bioengineering potential cellular cures for more than seven years. \u202fIt will enable Georgia Tech engineers to advance work at the center and within the National Science Foundation-funded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cellmanufacturingusa.org\/\u0022\u003EEngineering Research Center in Cell Manufacturing Technologies\u003C\/a\u003E (CMaT), to develop automated bioreactor systems that eliminate the need for costly cleanrooms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarcus\/CMaT Director \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Johnna-S.-Temenoff\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJohnna Temenoff\u003C\/a\u003E compared the current state of cell therapies to the early days of the automobile industry. She explained this new injection of funds will allow her team to shift from handcrafted production to an assembly-line approach.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI firmly believe that for us to make good on the promises of these biotechnologies to improve healthcare worldwide, we must be able to manufacture them in a more reproducible and cost-effective manner. Georgia Tech\u2019s distinctive strength lies in our engineering expertise, allowing us to tackle difficult biological problems,\u201d Temenoff said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe impact of this award extends beyond the laboratory. It has the potential to significantly boost Georgia\u0027s bioeconomy, making the state a hub for advanced therapy development and biomanufacturing. It will attract jobs and top-tier talent to the region.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jonathan-w-simons-md-a4247911\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDr. Jonathan Simons\u003C\/a\u003E, chief science officer and medical director of the Marcus Foundation, said Bernie Marcus liked to think of cells as \u201cliving drugs.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimons explained, \u201cThis is life-extending, lifesaving, and life-changing material. It\u0027s not like making a drug like penicillin or Tylenol. This is not like a little blister pack of pills. This is a whole new frontier for pharmacology and the pharmaceutical industry.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimons emphasized this is the latest chapter of both the Marcus Foundation\u2019s investment in biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and Bernie Marcus\u2019s enduring biomedical research philanthropy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think Bernie would say, \u2018I\u2019m not interested in my legacy. I\u2019m interested in how many patients in five years will benefit from this $40 million effort. It\u2019s all about lives changed, lives saved, and diseases ended,\u2019\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo learn more about Georgia Tech\u2019s research in cell and gene therapy biomanufacturing, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cellmanufacturing.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ecellmanufacturing.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA significant grant from the Marcus Foundation will support the Institute\u0027s research into making cell therapies more affordable.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A significant grant from the Marcus Foundation will support the Institute\u0027s research into making cell therapies more affordable."}],"uid":"28766","created_gmt":"2025-03-26 13:00:26","changed_gmt":"2025-03-26 13:58:34","author":"Shelley Wunder-Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676668":{"id":"676668","type":"image","title":"A researcher in the Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing removes cultured cells from an incubator for further characterization and testing.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA researcher in the Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing removes cultured cells from an incubator for further characterization and testing.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1742946387","gmt_created":"2025-03-25 23:46:27","changed":"1742946492","gmt_changed":"2025-03-25 23:48:12","alt":"A researcher in the Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing removes cultured cells from an incubator for further characterization and testing.","file":{"fid":"260481","name":"image001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/25\/image001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/25\/image001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1166641,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/03\/25\/image001.jpg?itok=Os-wYfZj"}}},"media_ids":["676668"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:swundersmith3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDirector of Research Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["swundersmith3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}