Sanjiv Lal knows his way around a laboratory.
The founder and CEO of Regen Therapy has spent two decades working across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, molecular genetics, diagnostics, and laboratory sciences.
But his biggest shift in thinking didn’t happen in a lab.
It happened when he became a patient.
When conventional approaches could only take his own health challenge so far, Lal started doing what came naturally: researching. He dug into emerging regenerative therapies and began looking closely at what was happening beneath the surface.
What caught his attention wasn’t just the possibility of introducing new cells into the body.
It was what the cells were already saying to one another.
Stop Thinking Only About Cells
Lal’s work has increasingly centered on secretome science and cellular signaling, the complicated conversation cells use to communicate.
Growth factors. Cytokines. Extracellular vesicles. Signals that help cells respond to their surroundings.
The idea fascinated him.
“We’ve spent years asking how we can introduce more cells into the body,” Lal says. “I think the more interesting question is: how do we restore the communication between the cells that are already there?”
Think of it as moving from adding more players to understanding the playbook.
That doesn’t mean the science has all the answers. It doesn’t. And Lal is careful about that distinction.
Regenerative medicine is moving fast, but the field still has plenty of work to do: regulatory hurdles, manufacturing challenges, limited physician education, and a whole lot of hype competing with legitimate science.
For Lal, separating the two is part of the job.
Stay Curious. Skip the Hype.
Lal’s career has taught him not to confuse an exciting idea with a finished solution.
That lesson matters in regenerative medicine, where promising research can sometimes move faster than the infrastructure needed to support it.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that innovation alone doesn’t create impact,” he says.
You can have extraordinary science. But if physicians don’t understand it, manufacturing isn’t consistent, evidence isn’t strong enough, and people don’t trust it, the breakthrough can stay stuck in the lab.
That’s why Lal sees his role as bigger than developing or promoting a technology.
He wants to help build what comes around it.
Physician education. Scientific collaboration. Manufacturing. Clinical frameworks. Better communication between researchers, healthcare leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors.
In other words: Make the science useful, not just exciting.
Look Where Medicine Is Heading
Lal is particularly interested in what happens when regenerative biology collides with other rapidly developing fields.
Genomics. Proteomics. Precision diagnostics. AI. Extracellular vesicles. Mitochondrial science. Advanced manufacturing.
The more precisely researchers can measure what’s happening biologically, he believes, the better they may become at understanding individual responses and developing more personalized approaches.
And that’s where Lal sees the bigger opportunity.
Not simply treating problems after they appear, but understanding biology well enough to support health and function earlier and more precisely.
It’s an ambitious vision. But Lal isn’t interested in pretending the destination has already been reached.
Ask Better Questions
For anyone trying to enter regenerative medicine, Lal has one major piece of advice: stay curious.
But don’t mistake curiosity for certainty.
“Learn the underlying biology, read the research, understand manufacturing and regulatory realities, and spend time with physicians, scientists, and operators who are actually doing the work,” he says.
That mindset has guided Lal through multiple industries and now into regenerative medicine.
His next question is bigger than any single product or technology.
What if the next breakthrough isn’t something medicine needs to put inside you?
What if it’s something we first need to learn how to understand?
For Lal, that conversation has already started.
“Cells are constantly talking to one another,” he says. “The next frontier of regenerative medicine is learning how to listen to that conversation.”
This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.
Switzer newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
