Rice University’s principal investigator for the five-year grant is Antonios Mikos, who was also on the research team for the university’s 3D printed scaffolds and bone cancer work. Mikos is the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the director of the Center for Excellence in Tissue Engineering, and also the director of the J.W. Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering; his CECT co-investigator is David Scott, the Noah Harding Professor of Statistics.
“The CECT establishes Rice as a premier institution in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. We have made tremendous progress alongside our colleagues at the Texas Medical Center. The CECT is a wonderful recognition of all of our collaborative efforts and presents an exciting beginning as we continue to work as a community on new technologies to improve health care,” said Mikos.
Atala said, “We are proud to be part of this collaborative effort to advance the field of 3D bioprinting. We believe bioprinting represents one of the most promising strategies for increasing the number of patients who can benefit from replacement tissues and organs.”
CECT researchers will work with other experts across the US on six collaborative projects and six service projects. The service projects, which will be executed with teams at the University of Maryland, Emory University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M University, and Synthasome Inc., will bring the technologies CECT is working on to broader applications and additional projects.
CECT co-principal investigator John Fisher, the Fischell Family Distinguished Professor and chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, said, “CECT will become a national hub for regenerative medicine through which leading experts of all areas of bioengineering, tissue engineering and additive manufacturing can work collaboratively to advance human health. Anyone in the world will have the opportunity to reach out to us to work in our labs. In this way, CECT will foster a two-way transfer of science to spur innovations that can shape the way bone, tissue and organ defects are treated or repaired.”
Mikos explained that the collaborative projects will make for a combined, coordinated technology testing environment, where researchers can give each other feedback in order to solve various biomedical problems, which will foster the development of new and improved technology, as well as new CECT strategies. Experts at the Mayo Clinic, the University of Toronto, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania will work together on these collaborative projects.
“The great education opportunity the center allows is a tremendous draw for people to come here and learn about the techniques Rice is working on. By helping the community develop this expertise, we will continue to build the Advances in Tissue Engineering continuing-education course Rice has been committed to for more than 25 years,” said Mikos.
- Rice University will focus on bioprinting for complex scaffold fabrication
- Wake Forest University will concentrate on bioprinting patterns for cell-laden constructs
- University of Maryland will work on 3D printed bioreactors for cell cultures
Mikos said, “The CECT is unique as it focuses both on the engineering of complex tissues and on the growing field of bioprinting. This grant is a great opportunity and responsibility to further develop the field and move it to the clinic.”
Discuss in the NIH forum at 3DPB.com.
[Sources: Rice University, University of Maryland]