Abstract

Microengineering of Organotypic Tissue On-Chip Technologies for Disease Modeling Applications

Mehdi Nikkhah, Associate Professor, Arizona State University

Development of ex vivo three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic tissue models has gained significant attention for variety of applications in biomedical and clinical research. Tissue on-chip technologies have enabled addressing the limitations of animal models to better understand the biological mechanisms of complex diseases in humans, such as cancer. These technologies have also immensely facilitated the process of drug development and discovery through creating scalable and high-throughput miniaturized platforms, to test the efficacy of multiple compounds in an efficient manner. In this seminar, Dr. Nikkhah will present the multidisciplinary research focus of his laboratory on the integration of advanced biomaterials, microscale technologies, and biology to develop the next generation of physiologically relevant and organotypic tissue on-chip platforms for disease modeling applications. Specific emphasis in this seminar will be placed on engineering of tumor microenvironment (TME) models to study cancer progression at the earliest stages of the metastatic cascade. In addition, he will also discuss the development of 3D human stem cell-derived heart on-a-chip model to study cardiovascular diseases.