John Wikswo's Biography

John Wikswo, Gordon A. Cain University Professor, A.B. Learned Professor of Living State Physics; Founding Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems, Vanderbilt University

John Wikswo is the Gordon A. Cain University Professor at Vanderbilt University and is the founding Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education. Trained as a physicist, he received his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia, and his PhD. from Stanford University. He has been on the Vanderbilt faculty since 1977. His research has included superconducting magnetometry, the measurement and modeling of cardiac, neural and gastric electric and magnetic fields, and non-destructive testing of aging aircraft. His group’s current work on organ-on-chips focuses on the development of intelligent well plates that serve as perfusion controllers, microclinical analyzers, and microformulators; developing a blood-brain-barrier and a cardiac tissue construct on a chip; and integrating multiple organs to create a milli-homunculus from coupled organs on chips. As a tenured member of the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Physics & Astronomy, he is guiding the development of microfabricated devices, optical instruments, and software for studying how living cells interact with each other and their environment and respond to drugs, chemical/biological agents, and other toxins, thereby providing insights into systems biology, physiology, medicine, and toxicology. He has over 250 publications, is a fellow of seven professional societies, and has received 39 patents.

Pumps, Valves, and Fluidic Connectors for Automating and Integrating Microphysiological Systems

Monday, 14 October 2019 at 09:00

Add to Calendar ▼2019-10-14 09:00:002019-10-14 10:00:00Europe/LondonPumps, Valves, and Fluidic Connectors for Automating and Integrating Microphysiological SystemsOrgan-on-a-Chip World Congress 2019 in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Much of the organ-on-chip and tissue-chip research to date has relied on very simple perfusion schemes that include surface tension, hydrostatic pressure, rocking plates, syringe pumps, pressurized reservoirs, and on-chip pneumatic or electromagnetic peristaltic pumps. A number of commercial microphysiological systems are moving towards high-throughput well-plate formats. Each of these fluid handling technologies presents different advantages in cost, convenience, and simplicity, and disadvantages regarding reservoir filling, media change, recirculation and volume minimization, organ-organ integration, bubble- and microbe-free addition and removal of chips from multi-organ microphysiological systems, temporal control of drug concentrations, adjusting/balancing flow rates, and controlling sensors for long-term use. While a common trend is towards high throughput and low cost, there are critical applications where high content is more important than high throughput, particularly those requiring multi-omic characterization of physiological responses over time to drugs and toxins for both single and multiple organs. We review how our computer controlled, modular, rotary planar peristaltic micropumps and twenty-five port rotary planar valves can be used to create autocalibrating electrochemical MicroClinical Analyzers, multi-well MicroFormulators that can create in vivo the pharmacokinetics observed in animals and humans, and perfusion controllers for multiple NeuroVascular Unit, Gut-in-a Puck, and Thick Tissue Mammary Bioreactors. Pumps and valves are useful for compact perfusion controllers that operate in microgravity environments. Miniature rotary valves will enable bubble-free, sterile connection and disconnection of individual organ chips to other organs and analyzers. Ongoing and future applications include 100-port valves and systems for optimizing the differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells, a 10,000 channel yeast MicroChemostat, and a MicroDialysis imager, all with direct injection into a mass spectrometer. The cost and complexity of these systems over present technologies is balanced by sophisticated computer control and sensor integration, reduced technician effort, high content results, and parallelization.

Add to Calendar ▼2019-10-14 00:00:002019-10-15 00:00:00Europe/LondonOrgan-on-a-Chip World Congress 2019Organ-on-a-Chip World Congress 2019 in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

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