Dr. March is a professor in the departments of Medicine, Cellular and Integrative Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University School of Medicine. He directs the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology and Medicine, the Vascular and Cardiac Center of Adult Stem Cell Therapy, and the allied VA Center for Regenerative Medicine, Indianapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. March has dedicated his career to bringing new medical approaches to patients. His publications include more than 110 manuscripts. He was editor of the first book dedicated to cardiovascular gene transfer. Dr. March’s research has resulted in more than 40 worldwide (23 U.S.) patents, with others pending. He invented the Closer, a suture-mediated closure device, used to close the puncture wound in an artery following heart catheterization, used in about 400,000 patients annually.
His laboratory focuses on vascular biology, with particular emphasis on function and translational study of stem cells found in adipose tissue, which his laboratory identified as peri-vascular cells with critical roles in vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and adipose tissue regulation. Dr. March is recognized as a leading expert in the field of adult stem cell research, particularly involving adipose-derived stromal stem cells. In 2008, he became Chair of the NIH/NHLBI DSMB that oversees cell therapy trials in the areas of heart, lung, and blood diseases.
In 2010, he established the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center, the first VA-sited Center dedicated specifically to moving adult stem cell therapies from the laboratory into patients.
In addition to his research roles, Dr. March has served as president (since 2007) of the International Federation of Adipose Therapeutics and Science and serves as the chief medical advisor for the Cell Therapy Foundation. In both affiliations, he has worked to advance collaboration as well as awareness about adult stem cells.