The HARVARD UROLOGIC RESEARCH CENTER

对泌尿生殖道基本知识的缺乏严重限制了对各种常见疾病的新的和创新的治疗选择的发展，包括年龄相关的和产后尿失禁、各种形式的膀胱不稳定、良性前列腺疾病的尿路并发症、慢性盆腔疼痛和源于先天性异常的排尿功能障碍。在下面的页面中，我们描述了我们对泌尿外科卓越研究中心的愿景，我们将其命名为哈佛泌尿外科研究中心（HURC）。我们开发这个项目的主要目标是 组建一支跨学科的研究人员团队，他们在基础科学和转化研究中采用最先进的方法，他们有着非常成功的合作关系的历史，并且致力于共同努力，为泌尿系统疾病的基础研究带来广泛的技术和科学专业知识。HURC的综合主题是“生殖泌尿道组织更新”。这一主题隐含的认识是，如果对组织结构和重塑、细胞间回路和细胞信号传导以及泌尿生殖系统细胞和组织的其他特征过程有足够的了解，那么在泌尿外科实践中临床观察到的许多功能缺陷可能会逆转或恢复。长期目标是 该计划将把基础细胞生物学、组织工程学、生物化学、分子生物学、蛋白质组学和基因组学的知识整合到一个前所未有的科学合作网络中。HURC的四个“任务”将是：（1）显著扩展泌尿道中空器官的基础知识（输尿管，膀胱和尿道）;（2）直接新的，尖端技术专门针对临床泌尿问题，包括癌症;（3）创建一个卓越的研究和教学中心，吸引国内外的研究人员;以及（4）建立一个指导环境，鼓励优秀的新研究者在其职业生涯中专注于泌尿系统疾病 路径为了支持“组织更新”主题，HURC的研究人员将集中在三个主要的科学重点领域，这些领域将作为中心的锚学科：（1）组织工程，（2）信号转导和（3）血管生成/血管生物学。我们寻求在泌尿外科研究中创建一个全新的项目，该项目有可能发展成为世界上最强大，最具创新性的泌尿外科疾病研究项目之一。

The absence of fundamental knowledge of the genitourinary tract severely limits the development of new and innovative therapeutic options for a variety of common illnesses, including age-related and post-partum urinary incontinence, various forms of bladder instability, urinary tract complications of benign prostatic disease, chronic pelvic pain, and voiding dysfunction originating from congenital anomalies. In the following pages we describe our vision for a research center of excellence in urology, which we have named the Harvard Urologic Research Center (HURC). Our major goal in developing this program has been to assemble an interdisciplinary team of investigators who employ state-of-the-art approaches in basic science and translational research, who have had a history of highly successful collaborative relationships, and who are committed to working together to bring a broad range of technical and scientific expertise to fundamental studies of urological disease. The integrative theme of the HURC is "Tissue Renewal in the Genitourinary Tract". Implicit in this theme is the recognition that many functional deficits observed clinically in urologic practice might be reversed or restored if sufficient knowledge about tissue architecture and remodeling, intercellular circuitry and cell signaling, and other processes characteristic of the cells and tissues of the urogenital system were understood in fundamental terms. The long-range objective of this program will be to integrate knowledge in basic cell biology, tissue engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, proteomics, and genomics into a scientific network of collaboration that has not existed before. The four "missions" of the HURC will be to: (1) significantly expand the fundamental knowledge of the hollow organs of the urinary tract (ureter, bladder and urethra); (2) direct new, cutting-edge technologies specifically toward clinical urological problems, including cancer; (3) create a center of research and teaching excellence that will attract investigators nationally and internationally; and (4) establish a mentoring environment that will encourage outstanding new investigators to focus on urologic diseases in their career path. To support the "Tissue Renewal" theme, the investigators in the HURC will be clustered within three primary areas of scientific focus that will serve as anchor disciplines for the Center: (1) Tissue Engineering, (2) Signal Transduction and (3) Angiogenesis/Vascular Biology. We seek to create a totally new program in urology research, one that has the potential to develop into one of the strongest and most innovative investigative programs focused on urologic disease in the world.