Siobhan Malany's Biography

Siobhan Malany, Associate Professor, University of Florida and Founder, Micro-gRx

Dr. Malany was Director of Chemical Biology at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute when she started Micro-gRx, INC after receiving funding from Space Florida to develop a human muscle cell system called a “lab-on-chip” that launched to the International Space Station in 2018. She transitioned to the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida where she has advanced an engineered “Human muscle-on-Chip” that tests the feasibility of microfluidic devices embedded with 3D myobundles connected to electrodes to track muscle function in the presence and absence of clinical drug candidates for treatment of age-related muscle atrophy. These tissue chips launched to the ISS in December 2020 to investigate the effects of microgravity on muscle biology. Dr. Malany was recently interviewed by Authority Magazine and was a guest on “Houston, we have a podcast.” Dr. Malany holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Iowa and completed postdoctoral training in pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego.

Skeletal Muscle Tissue Chip for Studying Contractile Differences Between Young and Old-derived Cells in Gravity and Microgravity Environments

Friday, 1 October 2021 at 13:00

Add to Calendar ▼2021-10-01 13:00:002021-10-01 14:00:00Europe/LondonSkeletal Muscle Tissue Chip for Studying Contractile Differences Between Young and Old-derived Cells in Gravity and Microgravity EnvironmentsThe Space Summit 2021 in BostonBostonSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Aging and spaceflight share similar physiological effects on muscle atrophy and effective countermeasures are needed for both Earth and Space applications. We have validated a microfluidic microphysiological system (MPS) that demonstrates electrically stimulated contraction of human-engineered muscle myobundles derived from muscle biopsies from older, sedentary (OS) adults compared to those derived from young, athletic (YA) adults as a model of age-related muscle disfunction. After 16 days in culture, the engineered myobundles receive an intermittent daily pulse sequence for 8 days. The number and thickness of fused and striatal myofibers and contraction magnitude are increased in the OS group and begin to resemble the YA phenotype indicating the cells retain their donor phenotype and respond to external stimuli by triggering protein synthesis. Drug treatment with Tomatadine, a natural anabolic compound changes contractile function in both cohorts and will also be discussed. Our YA and OS-derived myobundles were integrated into an autonomous laboratory and sent to the ISS for 10 days on Space X CRS-21 during which time, on-orbit, real-time contraction was downlinked.

Add to Calendar ▼2021-09-30 00:00:002021-10-01 00:00:00Europe/LondonThe Space Summit 2021The Space Summit 2021 in BostonBostonSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Corporate Sponsors

	Space Summit 2023: Chips in Space Location: Orlando, Florida Date: 26/07/2023 - 27/07/2023

	Organoids and Organ-on-a-Chip Asia 2023 Location: Tokyo, Japan Date: 05/10/2023 - 06/10/2023

	Innovations in Microfluidics 2023 Location: Seattle Date: 04/05/2023 - 05/05/2023