Over the last decades, the field of three-dimensional (3D) printing, or additive manufacturing, has witnessed tremendous progress. 3D printing enables precise control over the composition, spatial distribution, and architecture of the printed constructs facilitating the recapitulation of the delicate shapes and structures of target patterns. More recently it has been further combined with cells and cell-laden biomaterials to offer the versatility to fabricate biomimetic volumetric tissues that are both structurally and functionally relevant. Nevertheless, conventional 3D printing and bioprinting techniques are limited in certain aspects.
Dr. Shrike Zhang,
Harvard Medical School
This talk will thus discuss our recent efforts in developing a series of advanced additive (bio)manufacturing strategies that take unconventional approaches to tackle some of these problems and improve their capacities towards diverse applications in biomedicine with a focus on regenerative medicine. These platform technologies will likely provide new opportunities in areas from constructing functional tissues and microtissue models for promoting personalizable medicine, all the way to minimally invasive surgical implications.
Dr. Shrike Zhang is currently associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate bioengineer in the Division of Engineering in Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Zhang is directing the Laboratory of Engineered Living Systems (www.shrikezhang.com), where the research is focused on innovating medical engineering technologies, including 3D bioprinting, organs-on-chips, microfluidics, and bioanalysis, to recreate functional tissues and their biomimetic models, for applications in regenerative medicine and personalized medicine. He is an author of >350 peer-reviewed publications citations ~50,000, h-index=110). His scientific contributions have been recognized by >50 international, national, and regional awards.