Scientists, academic surgeons and physicians and representatives of the biotechnology industry will present new research findings and consider future directions for this emerging field. Media are invited to attend.

The scientific program, "Targeting Fat for Therapy: New Opportunities for Translational Research and Clinical Treatment," will explore how adipose tissue – more commonly known as fat – discarded in liposuction procedures can offer a unique, simple and abundant source of stem cells that could be used for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Among the topics to be covered are:

-- Techniques for harvesting and isolation of adipose-derived stem cells

-- Characterization and maintenance of adipose-derived stem cells

-- Applications for bone regeneration, peripheral nerve repair and heart repair

-- Effects of bariatric surgery on fat cell physiology

The meeting also will serve as a forum for the development of a consensus statement covering nomenclature, future applications and current challenges in the field.

A staffed press room will be available on site and media availabilities will be held each day. To register as press, please contact Alan Aldinger at aldial@upmc.edu or Lisa Rossi at rossil@upmc.edu, both of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's News Bureau, or call the News Bureau at (412) 624-2607. The preliminary scientific program and hotel information are available at http://www.ifats.org.

IFATS, the only interdisciplinary fat tissue society, is dedicated to facilitating the development of new technology derived from and directed toward adipose tissue. The society's current scientific areas of interest include facilitating the development of treatments for excess body fat, generation of new fat tissue for reconstruction after cancer or birth-related defects and the use of adipose tissue as a source of stem cells that have the potential to regenerate and repair different tissues in the body. Research has indicated adipose-derived stem cells can be coaxed into bone, nerve, cartilage and endothelial cells.

J. Peter Rubin, M.D., assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, co-director of the Aesthetic Surgery Center and director of the Life After Weight Loss Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is the society's current president. The scientific program chair is Adam Katz, M.D., assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.