Director of the OHSU Center for Regenerative Medicine

An internationally accomplished physician-bioengineer, whose landmark research breakthroughs include the development of lifesaving medical products for troops in the battlefield, Kenton Gregory is the Director of the new Center for Regenerative Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Gregory’s 15-member team, which includes four M.D. and Ph.D. scientists, moved from Providence St. Vincent Medical Center to OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus in January 2012. Dr. Gregory also holds a faculty appointment in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and Department of Biomedical Engineering in the OHSU School of Medicine. He was the founder of the Oregon Medical Laser Center at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, where he held an endowed chair in laser medicine and surgery and was a practicing interventional cardiologist.

As center director, Gregory is directing efforts to advance autologous stem cell treatments to safely regenerate hearts damaged by heart attacks and cardiomyopathies that cause heart failure. He has advanced pioneering work to regenerate arms and legs severely damaged from battlefield blast injuries — work that could easily be translated to civilian extremity injuries to accelerate and improve healing.  He is also directing efforts to regenerate skin after burn injuries, lung tissue after acute lung injury and prevent paralysis after nerve and spinal cord injuries.

Gregory received his undergraduate degree in engineering and Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Southern California. He completed his internship/residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles; he also completed an additional research fellowship in cardiology at the Irvine Medical Center in Orange, California. He has held teaching positions at the University of California, Irvine Medical School, and Harvard University School of Medicine, and served as staff cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Gregory holds over 20 domestic and international patents, has served as Principal Investigator on five FDA-sponsored clinical trials, and has received more than $50 million in grants. Among his many accomplishments, Gregory has launched seven spin-off companies since 1991 — three headquartered in Oregon.