FURI | Fall 2018

3D Printing for Spatiotemporal Control of Stem Cell Behavior

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Hydrogels possess the potential to be used within the human body for minimally invasive procedures for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. The objective of this project is to use a 3D printer to print bioinks, scaffolds of cross-linked hydrogels incorporated with live cells, to study the cell microenvironment three-dimensionally which better mimics an in vivo system. This will then be applied to study human mesenchymal stromal cell differentiation down the osteogenic lineage for orthopedic applications. Future work will include the introduction of growth factors into the hydrogel scaffolds to increase cell differentiation, encouraging an increase in bone growth.

Student researcher

Nathan Casey

Chemical engineering

Hometown: Pleasanton, California

Graduation date: Spring 2020

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