Building Tissues: From Cellular to Granular
Cancelled
Event details
| Date | 13.09.2023 |
| Hour | 14:00 › 15:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Brendan Harley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (USA) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Advances in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine require biomaterials that instruct, rather than simply permit, a desired cellular response. A major challenge to progress in our field is the complex organization of the tissues in our bodies, which are hierarchical, vary in space and time, and can differ person-to person. Prof. Harley’s research program is developing approaches to structurally and biomolecularly pattern biomaterials to enable tissue regeneration after injury as well as to study processes linked to homeostasis and disease progression outside of the body. A major area of our work targets development of a degradable biomaterial to regenerate craniomaxillofacial bones and musculoskeletal insertions. We are using bioinspired design motifs to create composite materials that instruct desired cell activities while retaining mechanical competence required for clinical translation. I will describe (granular) hydrogel models to study niche regulation of hematopoietic stem cells and patient-derived glioblastoma specimens. These tools enable study of dynamic processes such as niche remodeling and reciprocal signaling linked to stem cell quiescence as well as the role of angiocrine signals and immune interactions on invasive spreading and drug resistance in primary brain cancer. We are adapting these approaches to develop hierarchical models of the endometrial tissue microenvironment to investigate trophoblast invasion and endometrial pathologies.
Bio:
Brendan Harley is the Robert W. Schaefer Professor in the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University (2000), a Sc.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT (2006), and performed postdoctoral studies at the Joint Program for Transfusion Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston (2006 – 2008). His research group develops biomaterial platforms to dynamically regulate cell behavior for applications in musculoskeletal regeneration, hematopoietic stem cell biomanufacturing, as well as to investigate endometrial pathologies and invasive brain cancer. He has received funding from the NSF, NIH, American Cancer Society, the U.S. Army, and the AO Foundation. Prof. Harley co-founded a regenerative medicine company, Orthomimetics Ltd., to commercialize a biomaterial for osteochondral regeneration.
Dr. Harley has received a number of awards and honors including an NSF CAREER award (2013), the Young Investigator Award (2014) and the Clemson Award for Basic Research (2021) from the Society for Biomaterials (2014), as well as university research, teaching, and promotion awards (U. Illinois). He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2018), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (2021).
Zoom link for attending remotely: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/64538523844
Abstract:
Advances in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine require biomaterials that instruct, rather than simply permit, a desired cellular response. A major challenge to progress in our field is the complex organization of the tissues in our bodies, which are hierarchical, vary in space and time, and can differ person-to person. Prof. Harley’s research program is developing approaches to structurally and biomolecularly pattern biomaterials to enable tissue regeneration after injury as well as to study processes linked to homeostasis and disease progression outside of the body. A major area of our work targets development of a degradable biomaterial to regenerate craniomaxillofacial bones and musculoskeletal insertions. We are using bioinspired design motifs to create composite materials that instruct desired cell activities while retaining mechanical competence required for clinical translation. I will describe (granular) hydrogel models to study niche regulation of hematopoietic stem cells and patient-derived glioblastoma specimens. These tools enable study of dynamic processes such as niche remodeling and reciprocal signaling linked to stem cell quiescence as well as the role of angiocrine signals and immune interactions on invasive spreading and drug resistance in primary brain cancer. We are adapting these approaches to develop hierarchical models of the endometrial tissue microenvironment to investigate trophoblast invasion and endometrial pathologies.
Bio:
Brendan Harley is the Robert W. Schaefer Professor in the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University (2000), a Sc.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT (2006), and performed postdoctoral studies at the Joint Program for Transfusion Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston (2006 – 2008). His research group develops biomaterial platforms to dynamically regulate cell behavior for applications in musculoskeletal regeneration, hematopoietic stem cell biomanufacturing, as well as to investigate endometrial pathologies and invasive brain cancer. He has received funding from the NSF, NIH, American Cancer Society, the U.S. Army, and the AO Foundation. Prof. Harley co-founded a regenerative medicine company, Orthomimetics Ltd., to commercialize a biomaterial for osteochondral regeneration.
Dr. Harley has received a number of awards and honors including an NSF CAREER award (2013), the Young Investigator Award (2014) and the Clemson Award for Basic Research (2021) from the Society for Biomaterials (2014), as well as university research, teaching, and promotion awards (U. Illinois). He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2018), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (2021).
Zoom link for attending remotely: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/64538523844
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- Li Tang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Institute of Bioengineering (IBI) / Institute of Materials (IMX)
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)