Today, over 100,000 people are on the organ transplant list in the United States alone. And even for those who get a new organ, the future is uncertain – transplanted organs typically only last 5 to 20 years, and the immunosuppressants prescribed to prolong the organ's function heighten the risk of infection 2-3 times, and lead to increased risk of developing cancer. But what if we could produce custom-made organs using stem cells from the very patient the organ is intended for? In this talk, Nicholas Rinella, a process development scientist working on regenerative biomanufacturing, explains what that future might look like – and what today's scientists are doing to help us get there. Nicholas Rinella started his student career with the intent of entering the clinical field. He has experience working as an LNA, as a clinical research coordinator, and shadowing many doctors from various specialties. During his clinical experiences, he noticed one common theme: a large percentage of patients who aren’t receiving the therapeutic relief they are expecting from the treatment options available to them. Seeing how many people Rinella would not be able to help if he decided to continue studying clinical medicine is what motivated him to switch career paths and enter the medical research industry.

He now has his master’s in industrial biomedical science, enabling him to perform tasks like growing cells and tissues. Rinella has worked as a laboratory supervisor for the Microbiology Team at DEKA R&D for a hemodialysis machine. He’s currently an associate scientist working at ARMI BioFabUSA. He’s constantly amazed by the cutting-edge therapeutic options being developing and the many incredible people from different companies he has the privilege of meeting and working with every day. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx