Senior Scientist, Vision, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa Eye Institute
Professor, Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Ottawa
Biographical Sketch
Dr. May Griffith is a full Professor at the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Ophthalmology, University of Ottawa, and a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She obtained her PhD from the University of Toronto, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Dr. Griffith's research is in stem cells and regenerative medicine. She has led an international team of scientists to develop the world's first functional human corneal based on cell lines for in vitro toxicology use (reported in Science), which attracted significant media attention worldwide. The cell lines are now available commercially and her model is being tested in industry. More recent work has been focussed on transplantation, where Dr. Griffith and her team developed a range of biointeractive, biomimetic corneal substitutes that have been successfully tested in animals including pigs. These implants allowed for regeneration of corneal cells as well as nerves and reconstitution of a tear film, another world's first, and reported in the journal, Proceed. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA and then in the media worldwide on the Discovey Channel. This work has since led to the completion of a Phase I, first-in-human clinical trial of a biointeractive corneal substitute that has successfully promoted regeneration of corneal tissue and nerves. Dr. Griffith has also collaborated with other clinicians and researchers to develop biomaterials-enhanced stem cell-based strategies for affecting repair and regeneration in cardiovascular, cartilage and spinal cord repair.
Dr. Griffith has been the recipient of several major Canadian research awards which have included the Premier's Research Excellence award, an NSERC Women's Faculty Award, the University of Ottawa's Young Researcher of the Year Award, and a Canada's Top 40 Under 40 award.
Research Interests:
• Development of novel biopolymers as scaffolds for cells in reconstruction of tissues in vitro for toxicology testing and transplantation.
• Manipulation of stem cells for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Major Research Activities:
Our long-term objective is to broad-based methodologies for fabricating tissue replacements for 1) in vitro toxicology testing, as alternatives to animal testing implantation, and 2) transplantation. Our major focus is on the development of fully innervated corneas for in vitro testing use, and the development of transplantable artificial human corneas for treating corneal blindness.
Technically, this will require development of novel, scaffold materials that encourage integration with the host tissue after transplantation, and possess adequate optical and mechanical properties, both for handling and implantation, and for the duration of long term implants. Specifically, we plan to fabricate composite natural-synthetic polymer scaffolds that are pre-seeded with stem cells (native or genetically altered) or autologous cells (from the patient). The scaffolds will serve optical, protective and prosthetic functions and act as cell habitats, while the donor cells contribute towards host-wound healing and regeneration.
The tissue engineering principles from the artificial cornea are also being applied towards development of other tissue and organ replacements such as other parts of the eye, mucosal tisuues and articular cartilage, in collaboration with other OHRI and Univ. of Ottawa researchers such as Dr. Deryn Fogg (Chemistry), Dr. Max Hincke (Cell. Molec. Med.), and Dr. James Harden (Physics).
Major Awards:
Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award; Ontario Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA);
University of Ottawa Young Researcher of the Year Award; NSERC Canada Women's Faculty Award
Selected Tissue Engineering/ Regenerative Medicine Publications:
Peer-reviewed Journals
Merrett, K., Liu, W., Mitra, D., Camm, K. McLaughlin, C.R., Liu, Y. Watsky, M.A., Li, F., Griffith, M*. and Fogg, D.E.* (* equal contributions) A wholly synthetic polymer-recombinant human collagen hybrid: ROMP neoglycopolymers as biomimetic crosslinking agents in corneal tissue engineering. Biomaterials, In Press.
Fagerholm, P., Lagali, Carlson, D.J., Merrett, K. and Griffith, M. (2009) Corneal regeneration following implantation of a biomimetic tissue-engineered substitute. Clinical and Translational Science 2: 162-164.
Dare, E.V., Griffith, M., Poitras, P, Wang, T., D.J., Dervin, G.F., Giulivi, A. and Hincke, M.T. (2009) Fibrin sealants from fresh or fresh/frozen plasma as scaffolds for in vitro articular cartilage regeneration. Tissue Engineering Part A, e-pub 17 Feb.
Liu, W., Deng, C., McLaughlin, C.R., Fagerholm, P., Watsky, M.A., Heyne, B., Scaiano, J.C., Lagali, N.S., Munger, R., Li, F. and Griffith, M. (2009) Collagen-phosphorylcholine interpenetrating network hydrogels as corneal substitutes. Biomaterials 30: 1551-1559.
Liu, W., Griffith, M. and Li, F. (2008) Alginate microsphere-collagen composite hydrogels for ocular drug delivery and implantation. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Med. 19: 3365-3371.
Merrett, K., Fagerholm, P., McLaughlin, C.R., Dravida, S., Lagali, N., Shinozaki, N., Watsky, M.A., Munger, R., Kato, Y., Li, F., Marmo, C.J. and Griffith, M. (2008) Tissue engineered recombinant human collagen-based corneal substitutes for implantation: performance of type I versus type III collagen. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 49: 3887-3894.
Suuronen, E.J., Veinot, J.P., Wong, S., Kapila, V., Price, J., Griffith, M., Mesana, T.G. and Ruel M. (2006). Tissue engineered injectable collagen-based matrices for improved cell delivery and vascularization of ischemic tissue using CD133+ progenitors expanded from the peripheral blood. Circulation 114: 138-144.
Suuronen, E.J., McLaughlin, C.R., Stys, P.K., Nakamura, M. and Griffith, M. (2004) Functional Innervation in Tissue Engineered Models for In Vitro Study and Testing Purposes. Tox. Sci. 82: 525-533.
Suuronen, E.J., Nakamura, M., Stys, P.K., Munger, R., Shinozaki, N., Müller, L.J., Watsky, M.A. and Griffith, M. (2004) Functional innervation of an engineered tissue: an in vitro model for nerve-target cell interactions. FASEB J, 18:170-172 (EPub, Nov. 2003).
Li, F., Carlsson, D.J., Lohmann, C.P., Suuronen, E.J., Vascotto, S., Kobuch, K., Sheardown, H., Munger, M. and Griffith, M. (2003) Cellular and nerve regeneration within a biosynthetic extracellular matrix: corneal implantation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 100: 15346-15351.
Griffith, M., Osborne, R., Munger, Xiong, X., Doillon, C., Laycock, N.L.C., Hakim, M., Song, Y. and Watsky, M.A. Functional human corneal equivalents from cell lines. (1999) Science 286: 2169-2172.
Review Articles and Book Chapters
Griffith, M., Jackson, W.B., Lagali, N., Merrett, K., Li. F and Fagerholm, P. Artificial corneas: A regenerative medicine approach. Eye (Cambridge Ophthalmology Symposium Issue), E-Pub Jan. 2009; doi:10.1038/eye.2008.409.
McLaughlin, C.R., Tsai, R.J., Latorre, M.A. and Griffith, M. (2009) Bioengineered Corneas for Transplantation and In Vitro Toxicology. Front. Biosci. 14:3326-3337.
McLaughlin, C.R., Osborne, R., Hyatt, A., Watsky, M.A., Dare, E.V., Jarrold, B.B., Mullins, L.A. and Griffith, M. (2008) Tissue Engineered Models for In Vitro Studies. In: Fundamentals of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, U. Meyer, Ed, Springer, Berlin, Germany, In Press.
Sheardown H. and Griffith, M. (2008) Regenerative medicine in the cornea. Regenerative Medicine, R. Lanza and Atala A. (eds), Academic Press, Boston, USA, pp. 1069-1072.
Griffith M., Fagerholm, P., Liu, W., McLaughlin, C.R. and Li, F. (2008) Corneal Regenerative Medicine: Substitutes for Transplantation. In: Essentials of Ophthalmology, T. Reinhard, F. Larkin, Eds, Springer, Berlin, Germany, pp. 37-53.
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