Therapeutic/Technology: Technology
Multi-modal technology for non-destructive characterization of bioengineered tissues
Stem cell technologies hold great promise for engineering replacement tissues for repairing functional loss from trauma or disease. Such therapies are particularly important for replacing bone and cartilage in the aging population to maintain an active quality of life. However, the application of stem cells to generate individualized implantable grafts suffers from patient-to-patient variability that […]
Embryonic stem cell-based generation of rat models for assessing human cellular therapies
Heart failure, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. These diseases are characterized by the loss of specific cell types and can be treated and potentially cured with stem cell-based therapies. Before human stem cells can be used in clinical trials, however, their safety and efficacy need to […]
Injectable Hydrogels for the Delivery, Maturation, and Engraftment of Clinically Relevant Numbers of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitors to the Central Nervous System
One critical bottleneck in the translation of regenerative medicine into the clinic is the efficient delivery and engraftment of transplanted cells. While direct injection is the least invasive method for cell delivery, it commonly results in the survival of only 5-20% of cells. Studies suggest that delivery within a carrier gel may enhance cell viability, […]
Skin-derived precursor cells for the treatment of enteric neuromuscular dysfunction
The intestine performs the essential function of absorbing food and water into the body. Without a functional intestine, children and adults cannot eat normal meals, and these patients depend on intravenous nutrition to sustain life. Many of these patients do not have a neural system that coordinates the function of the intestine. These patients have […]
Skin-derived precursor cells for the treatment of enteric neuromuscular dysfunction
The intestine performs the essential function of absorbing food and water into the body. Without a functional intestine, children and adults cannot eat normal meals, and these patients depend on intravenous nutrition to sustain life. Many of these patients do not have a neural system that coordinates the function of the intestine. These patients have […]
Technologies to improve in vivo function of transplanted stem cells
Stem cell-based therapy is recognized as a promising therapeutic approach for treating various diseases that are currently intractable. One strategy in regenerative medicine is to transplant stem cells or their differentiated derivatives to regenerate the damaged tissues or halt tissue degeneration. Human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells having the potential to […]
Development of 3D Bioprinting Techniques using Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived Cardiomyocytes for Cardiac Tissue Engineering
Heart, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are responsible for ~17 million deaths per year globally and this number is predicted to reach 23.3 million by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases impose a staggering annual cost of $300 billion on the U.S. health care system. Heart transplantation is the ultimate solution to end-stage heart failure. However, a major […]
Optimizing the differentiation and expansion of microglial progenitors from human pluripotent stem cells for the study and treatment of neurological disease.
Microglia are a type of immune cell within the brain that profoundly influence the development and progression of many neurological disorders. Microglia also inherently migrate toward areas of brain injury, making them excellent candidates for use in cell transplantation therapies. Despite the widely accepted importance of microglia in neurological disease, methods to produce microglia from […]
Multimodal platform combining optical and ultrasonic technologies for in vivo nondestructive evaluation of engineered vascular tissue constructs
Current vascular replacement materials are far from ideal, with all available biomaterials exhibiting significant clinical complications. The development of novel biocompatible decellularized vascular grafts holds great promise for functional restoration of vascular tissues suffering from trauma or disease. However, the need for destructive analysis at multiple in-vitro and in-vivo time points creates a costly critical […]
Site-specific gene editing in hematopoietic stem cells as an anti-HIV therapy
The overall goal of this proposal is to develop new methods and technologies to improve our ability to engineer hematopoietic stem cells. These are the adult stem cells found in the bone marrow that give rise to all of the components of the blood and immune systems. Being able to engineer these cells provides potential […]