Wafa Tawackoli, Ph.D.

Technical Director, Research Imaging Core and Micro/Molecular Imaging, Biomedical Sciences
Email:Wafa.Tawackoli@csmc.edu
Phone:(310) 423-8070

Academic Appointments

Instructor, Surgery

Awards and Activities

Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Position: Reviewer2004 - 2012
Tau Beta Pi1999
Golden Key National Honors Society1999
Orthopedic Research Society2000
Biomedical Engineering Society2000
World Molecular Imaging Society2006

Research Focus

Imaging stem cell-based skeletal tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine; Investigating the use of broad range of imaging modalities to track and to characterize different stages 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

Investigated tissue regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from the iliac crest, TMJ, adipose tissue and the intervertebral disc; Pioneering aspects of surgical procedures, in vivo implantation, and in vivo imaging, using different imaging modalities, of small and large animals; 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. Injectable, genetically modified, mesenchymal stem cells to treat osteoporotoic vertebral fractures and interebertebral disc degeneration; Translational imaging and biomechanics of spine and tissue engineering.

Selected Publications

  1. Sheyn D, Kallai I, Tawackoli W, Cohn Yakubovich D, Oh A, Su S, Da X, Lavi A, Kimelman-Bleich N, Zilberman Y, Li N, Bae H, Gazit Z, Pelled G, Gazit D: Gene-modified adult stem cells regenerate vertebral bone defect in a rat model. Mol. Pharm., 8(5): 1592-601, 2011
  2. Fahim DK, Sun K, Tawackoli W, Mendel E, Rhines LD, Burton AW, Kim DH, Ehni BL, Liebschner MA: Premature adjacent vertebral fracture after vertebroplasty: a biomechanical study. Neurosurgery, 69(3): 733-44, 2011
  3. Kallai I, Mizrahi O, Tawackoli W, Gazit Z, Pelled G, Gazit D: Microcomputed tomography-based structural analysis of various bone tissue regeneration models. Nat Protoc, 6(1): 105-10, 2011
  4. Sheyn D, Rüthemann M, Mizrahi O, Kallai I, Zilberman Y, Tawackoli W, Kanim LE, Zhao L, Bae H, Pelled G, Snedeker JG, Gazit D: Genetically modified mesenchymal stem cells induce mechanically stable posterior spine fusion. Tissue Eng Part A, 16(12): 3679-86, 2010
  5. Kimelman-Bleich N, Pelled G, Zilberman Y, Kallai I, Mizrahi O, Tawackoli W, Gazit Z, Gazit D: Targeted gene-and-host progenitor cell therapy for nonunion bone fracture repair. Mol. Ther., 19(1): 53-9, 2010
  6. Kimelman-Bleich N, Pelled G, Sheyn D, Kallai I, Zilberman Y, Mizrahi O, Tal Y, Tawackoli W, Gazit Z, Gazit D: The use of a synthetic oxygen carrier-enriched hydrogel to enhance mesenchymal stem cell-based bone formation in vivo. Biomaterials, 30(27): 4639-48, 2009
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