The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine was established at University Health Network

University Health Network

University Health Network is a medical centre that comprises three teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine....

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 in 2003, with a donation from Rob

Rob McEwen

Rob McEwen, CC is a Canadian businessman. He is the Chairman and CEO of US Gold Corporation and Minera Andes Inc., Chairman of Lexam VG Gold Inc. and was the founder and former Chairman and CEO of Goldcorp Inc., which is the world’s second largest gold producer based on market capitalization...

 and Cheryl McEwen, which they matched in 2006 with a second donation.

The McEwen Centre’s vision is to be a world-renowned centre for stem cell

Stem cell

This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...

 biology and regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine is the "process of replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore orestablish normal function". This field holds the promise of regenerating damaged tissues and organs in the body by replacing damaged tissue and/or by stimulating the body's own repair...

. To achieve this ambitious goal, the team of McEwen Investigators is working together to accelerate the development of more effective treatments for conditions such as heart disease

Heart disease

Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...

, diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...

, respiratory disease

Respiratory disease

Respiratory disease is a medical term that encompasses pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange possible in higher organisms, and includes conditions of the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleura and pleural cavity, and the...

 and spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury

A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...

. The McEwen Centre is based in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District

Discovery District

The Discovery District is an area of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that features a high concentration of hospitals and research institutions, particularly those related to biotechnology...

 at the MaRS Centre/Toronto Medical Discovery Tower

MaRS Discovery District

MaRS Discovery District is a not-for-profit corporation founded in Toronto in 2000. Its stated goal is to commercialize publicly funded medical research with the help of local private enterprises and as such is a public-private partnership....

.

The current Director of the McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine is Prof. Gordon M. Keller, Canada Research Chair in Embryonic Stem Cell

Embryonic stem cell

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...

 Biology. Other McEwen scientists include John E. Dick

John Dick (scientist)

Dr. John E. Dick PhD FRSC is an award-winning Canadian scientist, credited with first identifying cancer stem cells in certain types of human leukemia...

, Michael G. Fehlings, Mansoor Husain, Norman N. Iscove, Shaf Keshavjee, Ren-Ke Li, Freda Miller, Andras Nagy, Molly Shoichet, Derek van der Kooy

Derek van der Kooy

Derek van der Kooy is Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Toronto. He received a Master’s Degree in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D in Anatomy, both at Erasmus University in 1978, as well in the Department of Anatomy at...

, Rüdiger von Harsdorf, Thomas K. Waddell, Richard D. Weisel and Peter Zandstra

Peter Zandstra

Peter Zandstra, Ph. D., is I’Anson Professor of Tissue Engineering, and a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering at the University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. He is cross-appointed to the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at...

.