The growing pandemic of chronic diseases — heart failure, diabetes, cancer and pulmonary disorders — represents a major challenge for global health. Regenerative medicine, which uses natural and engineered reparative tools to restore damaged tissue and function, offers a possible cure by restoring the structure and function of damaged organs.

Mayo Clinic established the Center for Regenerative Medicine to generate new knowledge of disease causes and cures and bring next-generation solutions to clinical practice. Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., director of the center, and Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., director of the center's Cardiac Regeneration Program, discuss the ways that stem cells are transforming health care.