Newsletter 2009 Fall
November, 2009
ASAIO is saddened to be informed of the passing of Dr. Michael Lysaght. ASAIO’s immediate past president.
Michael’s area of specialization was in the therapeutic application of synthetic membranes and other barrier materials in hemodialysis, apheresis, and tissue engineering. He was also interested, lecutered and published articles on the complex interplay of technology, economics and public policy in shaping contemporary and emerging organ-replacement therapies.
Michael J Lysaght was the Founder and Director Emeritus of Brown University’s Center for Biomedical Engineering, and a retired member of the Brown Faculty. Widely recognized for his leadership and contributions to organ replacement technology, he was Immediate Past President of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) and was current President of the International Federation of Artificial Organs (INFA).
An enthusiastic and committed teacher, he has received Brown’s Elizabeth H Leduc award for Excellence in Teaching in the Life Sciences and the class of 2003 Barrett Hazleton Citation, also for excellence in teaching. A strong proponent of University-Industry partnerships, he created the Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine to support the formation of local biotechnology spinoffs and startups based upon university technologies, and has received two gubernatorial citations for his contribution to the State’s economy.
He received an AB from Georgetown University, a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and, later in life, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Wales. Dr. Lysaght’s professional career was primarily spent in industry prior to joining the Brown faculty in 1994.
Dr. Lysaght worked at Amicon Corporation, one of the very early MIT biotech spinoffs, from 1996 to 1979. After leaving Amicon he spent three years in Europe. In 1981, he was a guest scientist in the membrane laboratory of Dr. Wolfgang Pusch at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1982-3, he directed the Nephrology Research Laboratory of Dr. Hans Gurland at the University Hospital of Munich. In 1984, Dr. Lysaght returned to the States and joined Baxter International in northern Illinois, first as Director of Membrane Science and later as Vice President for Renal Research. In 1989, he came to Providence, Rhode Island in New England to help start CytoTherapeutics, a Brown Spinoff and one of Rhode Island’s first biotechnology ventures. He served as Vice President and chief technical executive at CytoTherapeutics until 1994. By the time he left, the company had initiated its first clinical trials, raised $100 million, hired 100 employees and was NASDAQ listed.
He joined the faculty of Brown University in 1995 and remained until his semi-retirement in 2008. While at Brown, Dr. Lysaght’s laboratory research has focused on new therapies for End Stage Renal Disease as well as tissue engineering approaches to the treatment of diabetes and deteriorating cartilage. Much of this activity involves encapsulation of genetically-modified cells, or stem cells, in barriers which allow transport of bioactive molecules while providing protection from a potential host immune system. He has also conducted and published extensive studies on the demographic scope and economic impact of organ replacement technology and tissue engineering. For his work in this area, he was described by Barron’s as one of the nation’s “top medical thinkers.”
Because of his background in industry, Dr. Lysaght was asked by Brown to oversee a Brown-Rhode Island partnership to encourage and support private sector development of technology originating in RI University laboratories. This resulted in the formation of the Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine (RICCM), which formed the cornerstone for the current Slater Center for Biomedical Technology. RICCM assisted in the formation of well over a dozen startups, which attracted tens of millions of dollars in venture capital and government or corporate funding. Dr. Lysaght served as president of RICCM until 1999 and remained active on its board until 2003.
In 2000, he assumed responsibility for formation and oversight of a Center in Biomedical Engineering at Brown. An undergraduate concentration was initiated in 2001, and a graduate program was inaugurated in 2003. Both have proven very popular with students and faculty alike. Over 100 students have received SB degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Brown, and the graduate program currently has a census of over forty PhD candidates.
Dr. Lysaght has written extensively on various aspects of organ replacement therapy. He is author/editor of three books and has contributed over 200 papers to the scientific literature. He holds over 25 US Patents. He has also lectured extensively on the field and has been an invited keynote speaker at meetings of virtually all major artificial organ and tissue engineering societies
Dr. Lysaght served as a reviewer for the NIH, NSF, and DFG (Germany) as well as for funding agencies in Canada and the Netherlands. He was a founder of the International Society of Blood Purification (ISBP) and served as a Council Member or Officer continuously from 1983 to 2008. He was a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for Biology and Medicine (AIMBE) in 1992. He has been elected President of both The American (ASAIO) and International (InFA) Societies of Artificial Organs. In 1995, he was chairman of the Keystone Symposium on Encapsulated Cell Therapy. In 1997, he served as Congress President of the 11th International Congress of ISAO held in Providence; and in 1998, he hosted the 14th congress of ISBP in Newport. More recently, he organized and chaired the 2004 NIH Workshop on Immunobarriers in Islet Transportation.
After a long illness, he passed away on October 24th. He will be fondly remembered.
Andre A. Kaplan, MD
For the Board of Trustees, ASAIO
Contributions may be made to the Lysaght Family charitable Gift Fund at Tompkins County Trust, PO Box 6639, Ithaca, NY 14851-6639 for educational scholarships. Condolences may be left at monahandrabblesherman.com. -
May, 2009
ASAIO-IFAO 2009 Meeting Update; Board Elects New Members
The Board Meeting of the IFAO was held during the ASAIO-IFAO meeting in Dallas. The meeting began at 8 PM on May 28, 2009, in the Hilton Anatole Hotel. Those attending were Drs Ash, Richenbacher, Wagner, Taenaka, Schima, Vienken, Reis, Glasmacher, Leiner. Those unable to attend included Drs. Lysaght, Nakatani, Tominaga, Walpoth, Sun.
The following new members were proposed by the individual societies and accepted by the Board:
-ASAIO- Prof. William R. Wagner
–ESAO - Prof. Birgit GlasmacherProf. Rui L. Reis (ex-officio as Congress Chair of 2011 ESAO-IFAO Mtg)
–Extraordinary Board Member- Prof. José Osmar Medina Pestana –Appreciation for Retiring Members- Dr. Lysaght, Dr. Schima, Dr. Leirner.
Overall finances and investment balance of the society are stable. , with total investments of approximately $240,000. During the previous two years we received the expected donations from individual societies, and reasonable investment income. IFAO supported the 2009 ASAIO-IFAO meeting with the expected $25,000 donation. Expenses in 2009 also included a $3000 donation to TUYOD for their meeting in April, 2009. Other expenses included $2000 in travel for Board members, and a few hundred dollars for recognition awards. Through the portion of our endowment which was donated in 2007 by the Burl Osborne fund, we also supplied $4500 to recipients of the Burl Osborne Prize. Three prizes of $1500 each were given to authors of the top-ranked abstracts at the ASAIO-IFAO meeting, in the areas of Renal, Bioengineering and Cardiovascular science. Dr. William Wagner reported on the success of the 2009 ASAIO-IFAO meeting. There were approximately 600 attendees at the meeting, which was held in conjunction with the Pediatric Circulatory Support meeting (Dr. Akif Undar, Chairman). From the $25,000 donation from IFAO, $10,000 was spent for travel Scholarships for overseas attendees. These were awarded to the top ranking abstract from each country outside of the U.S.. The rest of the donation was spent for travel support of speakers coming from overseas. The meeting included a highly varied and in-depth scientific program and the IFAO Board congratulated Dr. Wagner, Dr. Richenbacher and ASAIO on organizing a highly successful meeting. .A special banquet was held during the ASAIO-IFAO meeting, organized by Dr. Nose and Dr. Ash with great assistance by Karen Burke. The “Willem Kolff Memorial Banquet” included tributes to Dr. Kolff and Drs. Portner, Kantrowitz, Akutsu, and DeBakey. The banquet was supported by grants from Terumo Heart and WorldHeart, and with this support and charges for tickets expenses were covered. Over 100 attended the event, including families of Peer and Adrian. .Dr. Rui Reis will be Congress Chair for the ESAO-IFAO meeting in Porto, Portugal on October 2-5, 2011. He attended the Board Meeting and described the plans for the meeting, already in progress. He also gave a presentation at the ASAIO-IFAO Congress regarding the meeting, which included many photographs of Porto and attractions.
During the year we had a request from TUYOD for support of their meeting in April 2009, and after a Board vote by email, decided to support this meeting with a $3000 donation, in part because many members of ESAO were invited speakers at the meeting. We made it clear that this was a one-time donation. At the Board meeting, we discussed whether we should consider support of various continental societies relating to Artificial Organs, such as TUYOD, TERMIS, IUSBSE, and the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs (India). We felt that this would be consistent with the purpose of the society, “…to increase and encourage knowledge and research on artificial organs, to facilitate the international exchange of knowledge, and to provide education related to the improvement and optimal utilization of artificial organs.” Dr. Leirner proposed that we offer to these societies that IFAO would be willing to supply travel stipends for speakers from ESAO, ASAIO, or JSAO to attend these meetings, up to a maximum of $3000 expense per year. This motion was approved. This funding would be provided after letters of request from the individual societies for support of specific individuals. We will notify the various societies of this offer of support. .
Election of Officers was performed, as required every two years. Professsor. Joerg Vienken was nominated by ESAO for Chairman for 2010-2011. He was unanimously elected. Professor Ryuji Tominaga was nominated by JSAO for Vice-Chairman for 2010-2011. He was unanimously elected also. We all look forward to the 2009 ESAO meeting in Compiegne in September, and the 2010 ASAIO meeting in Baltimore in May.