Biomanufacturing Instrumented Heart-on-Chip Models and Vascularized Cardiac Tissues

Zoom Link: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/93315594357?pwd=eE4wQS9lZjA2aloyMkQ2dG5CS21kZz09

 Meeting ID: 933 1559 4357 — Passcode: 689715

abstract: 

My lecture will focus on biomanufacturing instrumented organ-on-chip models and vascularized organ-specific tissues. First, I will provide a brief introduction to the functional and living materials as well as printing methods developed for biomanufacturing. Second, I will describe our work on cardiac-based microphysiological models in which sensor, electrode, and biocompatible soft materials are co-printed to enable the integration of soft strain gauge sensors within micro-architectures that guide the self-assembly of laminar cardiac tissues. These sensing elements provide non-invasive, electronic readouts of tissue contractile stresses over long duration experiments.  Finally, I will describe the generation of 3D vascularized cardiac tissues via the assembly of a living matrix composed of cardiac spheroids with tailored rheological behavior, which supports the embedded 3D printing of macro-vessels. This process, known as sacrificial writing in functional tissue (SWIFT), yields densely cellular cardiac tissues that fuse together and beat synchronously over a several day period.  Our research opens new avenues for patterning organ-on-chip and 3D human tissues for drug testing, disease modeling, and, ultimately, tissue repair and regeneration.

bio:

Jennifer A. Lewis is the Jianming Yu Professor of Arts and Sciences, the Wyss Professor for Biologically Inspired Engineering in the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a core faculty member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Her research focuses on 3D printing of functional, structural, and biological materials that emulate natural systems. Prior to joining Harvard, Lewis was a faculty member in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she served as the Director of the Materials Research Laboratory. Currently, she directs the Harvard Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and serves on the NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee.

Lewis has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award, the American Chemical Society Langmuir Lecture Award, the Materials Research Society Medal Award, the American Ceramic Society Sosman and Roy Lecture Awards, and the Lush Science Prize. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has co-founded multiple companies that are commercializing technology from her lab.