Dr. Eric Kurzrock

Sacramento State’s next Regenerative Medicine Lecture will focus on bladder disease.

“Advancing Stem Cell & Tissue Engineering Applications for Bladder Disease” is the topic of the lecture, to be presented by Dr. Eric Kurzrock, a professor of urology and chief of pediatric surgery at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

The free lecture will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in Sacramento State’s University Union Ballroom I.

Children born with urologic disorders and adults with bladder cancer often require bladder augmentation or replacement. The current use of intestinal segments presents problems such as infection and stone formation.

Ideally, the bladder wall would be replaced with bioengineered tissue from the patient’s own cells. While that has been tried in the past, a lack of vessels resulted in a lack of blood for the organ. The team from the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures is applying advances in stem cell biology to create bioengineered bladder tissue with the necessary vessels for proper delivery of blood.

Kurzrock earned his doctor of medicine degree at UCLA School of Medicine and his bachelor's in biochemistry at UC Berkeley. His practice is dedicated to treating urogenital disorders and malformations in infants and children.

For more information on the Regenerative Medicine Lecture series, visit www.csus.edu/stem/ or call (916) 278-6535. – Craig Koscho