Nancy Allbritton's Biography

Nancy Allbritton, Kenan Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University

Nancy L. Allbritton is the Kenan Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and North Carolina State University (NC State). Her research focuses on the development of novel technologies for applications in single-cell analysis, micro-arrays and fluidics, and organ-on-chip and has resulted in over 180 full-length journal publications and patents and led to 15 commercial products. Her research program has been well funded by the National Institutes of Health with $60 million in grant funding since 1994. Four companies have been formed based on her research discoveries: Protein Simple (acquired by Bio-Techne in 2014 for $308M), Intellego (subsequently integrated into International Rectifier), Cell Microsystems (www.cellmicrosystems.com), and Altis Biosystems (www.altisbiosystems.com). Dr. Allbritton is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors. She obtained her B.S. in physics from Louisiana State University, M.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and Ph.D. in Medical Physics/Medical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.

Chairperson's Welcome and Introduction to the Conference

Tuesday, 18 June 2019 at 08:45

Add to Calendar ▼2019-06-18 11:45:002019-06-18 12:45:00Europe/LondonIntestine on a Chip for Basic Biology and Patient-Specific MedicineOrgan-on-a-Chip and Tissue-on-a-Chip Europe 2019 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Intestine on a Chip for Basic Biology and Patient-Specific Medicine

Tuesday, 18 June 2019 at 11:45

The ability to monitor and control the environment at the cellular and tissue level is one of the most promising applications for microengineered systems. Advances over the past decade in our ability to isolate and culture stem cells when combined with microengineering make it possible to conceive of physiologically functional systems that reconstitute whole organ physiology. These “organ-on-a-chip” platforms enable the establishment of the tissue interfaces necessary for organ function while providing exquisite control of experimental variables and sharing the richness of the intact organism. My group is at the forefront of marrying these advances in stem-cell culture with microengineering to create in vitro tissue mimics with a focus on the intestine. We constructed in vitro epithelium for human and mouse, small and large intestine that bear a stunning physical resemblance to the in vivo intestinal epithelium epithelia displaying arrays of polarized crypts. Most importantly this system recapitulates much of the physiology of the native intestinal epithelium. The system is constructed by developing a self-renewing monolayer of primary cells which is then shaped using microfabrication techniques. The platform enables application of the diverse chemical gradients (growth factors, morphogens, bacterial metabolites, food substances, and gases) thought to exist along the crypt-villus axis. Application of gradients of microbiota-derived fermentation products across this tissue provided a direct demonstration that these products drive alterations in the size of the crypts’ proliferative and differentiated compartments as predicted to occur in vivo. The system also enables co-culture of anaerobic intestinal bacteria above a physiologic mucus layer. Using this platform, small intestinal biopsies from humans can be used to populate the constructs with cells producing patient-specific tissues for personalized medicine.

Add to Calendar ▼2019-06-18 00:00:002019-06-19 00:00:00Europe/LondonOrgan-on-a-Chip and Tissue-on-a-Chip Europe 2019Organ-on-a-Chip and Tissue-on-a-Chip Europe 2019 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

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