Dame Julia Margaret Polak of the United Kingdom visits UTHSC-H Supported by the TX/UK Collaborative Research Initiative, Dame Julia Margaret Polak, professor and chairman of the Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Imperial College London, did her sabbatical at UTHSC-H to share British science to her colleagues in Texas and to foster collaborative links. She presented "Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine" at the dean's special lecture through the Medical School in November 2004. She also worked with President James T. Willerson on cardiac regeneration and with The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases faculty on the Texas Stem Cell initiative. She was hosted by Ferid Murad, MD, PhD (director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, chairman of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, and 1998 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine) and the Office of International Programs during both of her visits in November 2004 and March 2005. Dame Polak is the subject of Rosemary Friedman's novel Intensive Care and the play Change of Heart, works which followed her heart and lung transplants in 1995. At the time of her transplants she was the oldest recipient and is currently one of the longest living survivor of such transplants in the United Kingdom.

(left to right) Dame Julia Margaret Polak, MD, DSc (professor and chairman of the Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Imperial College London), Denis Headon, PhD (director, Texas/UK Collaborative Research Initiave), Hui-Ming Chang, MD, MPH (vice president for international programs and special advisor to the president) and Michael McKinney, MD (senior executive vice president and chief operating officer)

Dame Julia Margaret Polak, MD, DSc, James T. Willerson, MD (president, UTHSC-H), and Denis Headon, PhD

Dame Julia Margaret Polak, MD, DSc and Ferid Murad, MD, PhD (director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, chairman of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, and 1998 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine)

Hui-Ming Chang, MD, MPH and Dame Julia Margaret Polak, MD, DSc