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Cardiology Faculty Research Interests Dr. Hossein Tavana Tissue environments are multicellular. Homotypic and heterotypic contact between cells is a key regulator of the fate and function of cells. In vitro study of the effect of direct contact between cells has been challenging due to the lack of techniques that allow positioning cells directly on an existing layer of cells without using cell-­‐encapsulating gels, which hinder direct cellular contact. Dr. Tavana’s lab has developed a new cell printing microtechnology that encapsulates cells in a drop of an aqueous medium and prints the drop directly onto the monolayer of cells maintained in a second aqueous medium. Printed cells remain within the drop and adhere to their underlying cells to create a co-­‐culture microenvironment (Fig.2a). Dr. Tavana’s lab utilizes this capability to create multiplexed embryonic stem cells niches on a layer stromal cells to differentiate the resulting stem cell colonies toward a neuronal phenotype (Fig.2b,c). Dr. Tavana’s lab is currently using this approach for cardiac tissue engineering. Tavana, H, B. Mosadegh, B, P. Zamankhan, P, J.B. Grotberg, JB, S. Takayama, S. “Microprinted feeder cells guide embryonic stem cell fate,” Biotech. Bioeng., 2011, 108, 2509-­‐2516. Tavana, H, B. Mosadegh, B, Takayama, S. “Polymeric aqueous biphasic systems for non-­‐contact cell printing on cells: Engineering heterocellular embryonic stem cell niches,” Adv. Mater., 2010, 22, 2628-­‐2631. Dr. Rebecca Kuntz Willits The overarching goal in the Willits lab is to design materials and devices that control cell behavior. In order to achieve this goal, significant effort has been put forth to understand the behavior of cells in biologically relevant three-­‐dimensional scaffolds. A target area for this research is cardiovascular tissue. The lab’s primary material of interest has been poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and its chemical derivatives, and it forms the base of their synthetic scaffolds. PEG is a widely studied molecule that is biocompatible and FDA approved for variety of different uses. Dr. Ge (Christie) Zhang Dr. Zhang’s training in both medicine and biomedical engineering provides a solid foundation for her to pursue her research interests in developing tissue-­‐engineered constructs for cardiovascular repair. During her Ph.D. and Postdoctoral work, she worked with different types of stem cells and biomaterials and gained extensive experience in cardiovascular tissue engineering. Dr. Zhang has developed a degradable fibrin based scaffold to deliver stem cells and sustain growth factor release for the purpose of improving the engraftment of the transplanted stem cells and facilitating their homing to the injured target. In addition, she has worked with numerous in vitro, ex vivo, and animal models for cardiovascular and neural diseases.