Engineered Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

The regeneration of tissues damaged due to disease or trauma represents a major medical need. Although surgical replacement can be performed to address this issue, insufficient number of donors limits the applicability of the approach. There is, therefore, an unmet demand for development of tissue replacements. My research aims to control and modulate cellular behavior for directing repair and regeneration of tissues. To achieve this goal, I use diverse tools taken from chemistry, cell biology, materials science, microfabrication, and engineering. In my seminar, I will talk about new biomaterial platforms to generate multicellular and compartmentalized tissue-mimetics for various clinical applications including endothelialization of cardiovascular tissues, regeneration of bone, and invasion of tumors. To overcome the limitations with the conventional methods, we have developed a novel layer-by-layer approach to assemble tissue-like structures. This strategy offers unique opportunities ranging from understanding fundamental biology to development of disease models for personalized medicine and organ assembly. The ultimate goal of my research is to improve human health and quality of life.