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SUMMARY:Exploring Lymphatic Function: an Engineered Toolbox to Shed Light 
 on Nature’s Invisible Vessels
DTSTART:20140317T121500
DTSTAMP:20260406T194626Z
UID:65c6a55203727323a83149b77f78a3ee131644da0c8930766d65f6b5
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. J. Brandon Dixon\, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanic
 al Engineering\, Georgia Institute of Technology\, Atlanta\, GA (USA)\nBIO
 ENGINEERING SANDWICH SEMINARAbstract:\nProper lymphatic function is essent
 ial to a variety of important physiologic processes including immune cell 
 trafficking\, lipid absorption\, and the regulation of fluid balance. Loss
  of this function results in the debilitating condition of lymphedema\, a 
 disease affecting over 120 million people worldwide\, and for which there 
 is currently no cure. The experimental difficulties associated with making
  actual measurements on lymphatics have significantly slowed our understan
 ding of the molecular mechanisms utilized by lymphatics to achieve their f
 unction. In vitro experiments on isolated primary lymphatic endothelial ce
 lls or lymphatic muscle cells remove the cell from its native biological a
 nd mechanical microenvironment\, making the interpretation of results chal
 lenging. In vivo experiments\, on the other hand\, often require highly in
 vasive and terminal procedures to access the vessels. In this talk I will 
 describe several experimental platforms we have developed to assist in bot
 h of these issues. By culturing isolated lymphatic vessels (or in vitro mi
 crofluidic cell models) with sophisticated perfusion chambers to precisely
  control their biophysical surroundings\, we seek to not only better recap
 itulate the in vivo state\, but to explore how changes in this mechanical 
 environment participate in the coordination of lymphatic pump function ove
 r long distances. Through the development of near infrared (NIR) imaging t
 echniques we can perform longitudinal studies on lymphatic function and me
 asure lymphatic pumping pressure in a minimally invasive fashion. Together
  these approaches are providing insight into the role of pump failure duri
 ng the development of lymphedema\, and are moving us towards the goal of n
 ew diagnostic capabilities for the early detection and assessment of disea
 se risk in lymphedema.Bio:\n2001   B.S. in Biomedical Engineering\, Texa
 s A&M University\n2006   Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering\, Optical Biose
 nsing Laboratory\, Texas A&M University\n(developed an imaging system for 
 measuring lymphatic flow and estimating wall shear stress in contracting l
 ymphatic vessels)\n2006-2009\nPostdoctoral Fellow at Ecole Polytechnique F
 édérale de Lausanne\, Swartz Lab\n(research on tissue-engineered models 
 of the lymphatic system)\n2009-current\nAssistant Professor at George W. W
 oodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\, Georgia Institute of Technology
 \, Atlanta\, GA (USA)Speaker's personal web page
LOCATION:BM 5 202 http://map.epfl.ch/?room=bm5202
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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