Yupeng Chen,
Associate Professor,
University of Connecticut
Dr. Yupeng Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Connecticut. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and chemistry from Brown University. Dr. Chen has a long-term interest in designing and developing DNA-inspired Janus base nanomaterials for regenerative engineering applications. He is an inventor of 10 US patents and 14 international patents related to the Janus base nanotechnology. Some of these patents have been successfully licensed to industry. To date, Dr. Chen has published one book, nine book chapters and 63 peer-reviewed publications. He and his lab have delivered 107 conference presentations and invited talks. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from NSF, the discovery award from DOD and the grand prize of the New Investigator Recognition Awards from the Orthopaedic Research Society (top one winner among 545 worldwide candidates). Dr. Chen has been elected as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) as a recognition of his effort in translating scientific breakthroughs into real-life applications. Dr. Chen frequently serves as a reviewer on multiple NIH and NSF panels and conducts review and/or editorial work for 31 journals. Dr. Chen has received many competitive federal research grants from NIH, NSF, NASA, DOD and CASIS. Most recently, Dr. Chen has pushed the boundary of regenerative engineering research from Earth to space: Dr. Chen is funded to develop and evaluate Janus base nanomaterials on the International Space Station (ISS) for in-space tissue engineering, biofabrication, and biotherapeutics.
DNA-Inspired Janus Base Nanomaterials for Cartilage Tissue Chip Applications
Thursday, 27 July 2023 at 12:00
Add to Calendar ▼2023-07-27 12:00:002023-07-27 13:00:00Europe/LondonDNA-Inspired Janus Base Nanomaterials for Cartilage Tissue Chip ApplicationsSpace Summit 2023: Chips in Space in Orlando, FloridaOrlando, FloridaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Absence of biomechanical loading in microgravity can result in articular cartilage degeneration. Once damaged, cartilage has very limited self-regeneration. Therefore, many biomaterial scaffolds have been developed for cartilage tissue engineering. Conventional solid scaffolds are not injectable so they have limitations for applications in “difficult-to-reach” locations, such as microchannels of tissue chips or deep-tissue damage; hydrogels are semisolid materials so they don’t have solid surface for cell anchorage which could be a limitation in space. To overcome this challenge, we have developed a family of self-assembled scaffolds, named Janus base nano-matrices (JBNms). JBNms are formed by the self-assembly between Janus base nanotubes (JBNts, non-covalent nanotubes mimicking DNA base pairs) and extracellular matrix proteins (such as matrilin, a cartilage specific protein). We have also found that the JBNm presented synergistic functions from JBNts and matrilin, which can create a microenvironment selectively promoting chondrogenic differentiation of stem cells. We have demonstrated that the JBNm can significantly improve longevity and reusability of cartilage tissue chips as while as growth plate cartilage regeneration in a preclinical animal model. Therefore, the JBNm is a versatile scaffold suitable for cartilage tissue engineering and tissue chip applications on Earth and in space.
Add to Calendar ▼2023-07-26 00:00:002023-07-27 00:00:00Europe/LondonSpace Summit 2023: Chips in SpaceSpace Summit 2023: Chips in Space in Orlando, FloridaOrlando, FloridaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Add to Calendar ▼2023-07-27 12:00:002023-07-27 13:00:00Europe/LondonDNA-Inspired Janus Base Nanomaterials for Cartilage Tissue Chip ApplicationsSpace Summit 2023: Chips in Space in Orlando, FloridaOrlando, FloridaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
