Dan Gazit, PhD, DMD

Director, Skeletal Regeneration and Stem Cell Therapy Laboratory

Director, Molecular and Micro Imaging Core Facility
Email:dan.gazit@cshs.org
Phone:(310) 423-8070

Institute Affiliation

Regenerative Medicine Institute

Awards and Activities

Member, Editorial board of Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine2007
Member, Editorial board of Gene Therapy Journal2007
Director, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Center for Converging Sciences & Technologies2005
Member, American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) Musculo Skeletal Committee.2004
Collaborator, Tissue Engineering Resource Center (P41), Tufts University, MA, USA2004
Head, Biotech Committee, Hebrew University of Jerusalem2002

Research Focus

Stem cell-based skeletal tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Investigate the use of adult stem cells, derived from various tissues of the human body, for the regeneration of bone, cartilage, tendon/ligament and the intervertebral disc. Combining isolated stem cells with differentiation-inducing genes and biodegradable scaffolds could lead to novel therapeutic solutions for patients suffering from non-union fractures, osteoarthritis, tendon tears, osteoporosis and spine disorders.

Research Contributions

Spearheaded the use of genetically modified mesenchymal stem cells for skeletal tissue repair. Identified specific genes, which induce chodrohgenic and tenogenic differentiation in mesenchymal stem cells. Leader in the use of molecular imaging in stem cell-based skeletal tissue engineering.

Current investigations include:

Development of novel tracers and multimodality imaging systems for stem cell tracking in vivo; The use of smart biomaterials for the enhancement of stem cell survival and differentiation; Injectable, genetically modified, mesenchymal stem cells to treat osteoporotoic vertebral fractures and interebertebral disc degeneration.

Selected Publications

  1. Zilberman Y, Kallai I, Gafni Y, Pelled G, Kossodo S, Yared W, Gazit D: Fluorescence molecular tomography enables in vivo visualization and quantification of nonunion fracture repair induced by genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells. J. Orthop. Res., 26(4): 522-30, 2008
  2. Aslan H, Kimelman-Bleich N, Pelled G, Gazit D: Molecular targets for tendon neoformation. J. Clin. Invest., 118(2): 439-44, 2008
  3. Tai K, Pelled G, Sheyn D, Bershteyn A, Han L, Kallai I, Zilberman Y, Ortiz C, Gazit D: Nanobiomechanics of Repair Bone Regenerated by Genetically Modified Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Tissue engineering. Part A, , 2008
  4. Zilberman Y, Gafni Y, Pelled G, Gazit Z, Gazit D: Bioluminescent imaging in bone. Methods Mol. Biol., 455: 261-72, 2008
  5. Aslan H, Ravid-Amir O, Clancy BM, Rezvankhah S, Pittman D, Pelled G, Turgeman G, Zilberman Y, Gazit Z, Hoffmann A, Gross G, Domany E, Gazit D: Advanced molecular profiling in vivo detects novel function of dickkopf-3 in the regulation of bone formation. J. Bone Miner. Res., 21(12): 1935-45, 2006
  6. Hoffmann A, Pelled G, Turgeman G, Eberle P, Zilberman Y, Shinar H, Keinan-Adamsky K, Winkel A, Shahab S, Navon G, Gross G, Gazit D: Neotendon formation induced by manipulation of the Smad8 signalling pathway in mesenchymal stem cells. J. Clin. Invest., 116(4): 940-52, 2006
print button
WP1