Alan Russell is the founding director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Pittsburgh, and a professor of surgery and of chemical engineering. Last week, TED.com (Technology, Entertainment, Design) posted a must-see lecture given by Russell on Regenerative Medicine.

During this twenty-minute video, Russell not only reviews the challenges in health care as life expectancy increases worldwide, but also reveals "a breakthrough way of treating disease and injury by helping the body to rebuild itself." In what can only be described as a mesmerizing presentation, Russell "shows how engineered tissue... has helped a man regrow his lost fingertip, how stem cells can rebuild damaged heart muscle, and how cell therapy can regenerate the skin of burned soldiers."