The promise of tissue engineering stretches the limits of our imagination.
Biotechnology in general, and stem cell research in particular, has made great strides in spurring the growth (and re-growth) of specific human cell types. But cells alone cannot replace human tissue. Cells need scaffolds to serve as structural guides while growing into useful tissues or life-saving drug delivery systems.
Cell-scale scaffolds share similarities with building-scale scaffolds used in construction projects. Viable scaffolds allow for the mass transport of oxygen and nutrients. These scaffolds can direct the growth of cells migrating from nearby tissue or provide a foothold for new tissue growth. This directed growth could be used to replace destroyed nerves or heal fractured bones, damaged blood vessels, or parts of diseased organs.
Tissue engineering researchers at WID are laying the research foundation for these transformative scaffolding technologies. Ultimately, their work aims to heal damaged tissues with remarkable speed and minimal complications.
By working at the intersection of biotechnology and nanotechnology, tissue engineering researchers are building a library of scaffolding materials and cost-effective, mass-production methods that will work for a variety of cell types used in a wide range of in-body applications.
WID’s Sarah Gong is part of a team that developed a micro-molded scaffolding photoreceptor “patch” to be implanted under damaged or diseased retinas, the next step in restoring sight.
WID’s Randolph Ashton, Gavin Knight, Benjamin Knudsen, and Nisha Iyer take top honors from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s Innovation Awards. Their work, Superior Neural Tissue Models for Disease Modeling, Drug Development and More, was selected from more than 400 innovation disclosures.
Novel CAR T Cell therapy development in translational and bench top settings
Creating and utilizing neural tissue engineering platforms for the study of clinical disease.
Professor, Diane M. Bless Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology
Vocal fold mucosa biology in health and disease
A team of UW-Madison researchers led by Discovery Fellow Wendy Crone has created a powerful tool to help assess what experimental factors help to produce stem cell-generated cardiomyocytes that behave like adult heart cells.
Focusing on the researches of small-diameter vascular grafts and rapid endothelialization
Polymer Processing, Polymer Foaming, Composites, Injection molding and innovative plastics manufacturing processes
Human cell engineering including CRISPR gene editing and epigenetic reprogramming
Engineering cells and organism via genome editing and studying the delivery method for CRISPR/Cas9
Three members of Lih-Sheng (Tom) Turng’s research group at WID won top awards for their exceptional research papers in March.
WID researchers used a collaborative combination of computational and wet lab experimental techniques to find a connection between a transcription factor and a neurodevelopment gene.
WID researchers Randolph Ashton and Tom Turng partnered on a project to create hydrogel molds that will allow them to more precisely control the three-dimensional structures of organoids.
WID’s Tom Turng envisions a future in which surgeons can order mass-produced artificial blood vessels that arrive ready to use in bypass surgeries.
WID’s Randolph Ashton, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is the new associate director for UW–Madison’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center.
The Wisconsin State Journal, as part of its feature highlighting stem cell research at UW 20 years after James Thomson’s discovery, highlights WID researchers Randolph Ashton and Kris Saha.
A paper published in eLife this week by an interdisciplinary team at WID describes new methods for reproducibly manufacturing brain and spinal cord organoids with strict control over morphogenic and developmental processes.
UW researchers led by WID’s Kris Saha join the National Institutes of Health’s Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium with a major collaborative award.
Lab Manager
Genomic DNA sequencing and viral production. Facilitate various administrative functions.
