Research Areas

Regenerative Engineering in Medicine

Regenerative Engineering in Medicine combines cell and molecular biology, cell biophysics and engineering methods to understand and control the organization and function of tissues.

This program seeks to determine the fundamental principles regulating growth and remodeling in natural and engineered tissues. The result will be a better understanding of normal growth processes and the responses of cells, tissues and organisms to disease and trauma. This knowledge will be applied to the development of materials that promote healing and the regeneration of functional tissues.

Primary Faculty

Cory Berkland

Professor
Developing new therapeutics and biomaterials for improving human health

Jianmin Cui

Professor
Aims to design ultrasound protocols for drug & gene delivery

Nathaniel Huebsch

Associate Professor
Focuses on basic & translational stem cell mechanobiology

Jai Rudra

Associate Professor
Designs biomaterials for vaccine development and immunotherapy

Alexandra Rutz

Assistant Professor
Advances bioelectronics using materials and fabrication-based approaches

Jin-Yu Shao

Professor
Works to further understand infectious & inflammatory diseases

Lori Setton

Chair and Professor
Combines methods of engineering and biology to regulate disc and cartilage health and healing

Jonathan Silva

Professor
Creating better ways to treat cardiac arrhythmia

Affiliate Faculty

Jennifer Alexander-Brett - Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine

Cell organoid models, animal model reporter systems, human biospecimen analysis, extracellular vesicle purification, quantitation, phenotypic analysis, multi-omics (proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics)

Philip Bayly - Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

biomechanics, mechanobiology, cell motility, flagella, cilia, imaging

David Curiel - Radiation Oncology

gene therapy, virus, vector, targeting

Michael Greenberg - Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics

heart failure, molecular motors, single molecule, optical trapping, stem cells, tissue engineering

Jianjun Guan - Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Biomaterials; stem cell transplantation; neural, bone and cardiovascular tissue regeneration, tissue sensors

Farshid Guilak - Orthopaedic Surgery

biomechanics, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, osteoarthritis, synthetic biology, stem cells, mechanobiology, mechanotransduction, cell mechanics

David Gutmann, MD - Neurology

Professor
Brain tumors, neurons, human induced pluripotent stem cells, genetically engineered mice, tumor modeling, organoids

James Huettner - Cell Biology & Physiology

glutamate receptors, chimeric subunits, in vitro differentiation, neural differentiation from stem cells

Eynav Klechevsky - Pathology & Immunology

Understanding principles of healthy human immune response and its alteration in disease in patients.

Spencer Lake - Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Orthopedic, soft tissues, tendon/ligament, biomechanics, structure-function

Eric Leuthardt, MD - Neurosurgery

Brain Computer Interfaces, Neuroprosthetics, Advanced Imaging, Resting State fMRI

Xiaowei Li - Surgery

Developing biomaterials platforms for regenerative medicine, applications of biomaterials for angiogenesis and vascularization, stem cell engineering, and tissue regeneration

Matthew MacEwan - Neurology

Neuroprosthetics, Nerve Regeneration, Peripheral Nerve Interfacing, Transient Electronics, Nanomaterials

Audrey McAlinden - Orthopaedic Surgery

microRNAs, RNA nanotherapeutics, skeletal biology, heterotopic ossification, osteoarthritis, bone fracture

Gretchen Meyer - Physical Therapy

Skeletal Muscle Physiology, Adipose Signaling, Regeneration, Injury

Jeffrey Millman - Internal Medicine - Endocrine/Metabolism

Pluripotent stem cells, diabetes, iPS cells, embryonic stem cells, differentiation, tissue engineering, metabolism, biomaterials

W. Zachary Ray, MD - Neurosurgery

neuroprosthetics, resorbable electronics, nerve regeneration, spinal cord injury

Maria Remedi, MD, PhD - Medicine

Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, brain dysfunction, Metabolism, Therapy, pancreatic beta-cells, neurons, cell identity, adipose tissue

Stacey Rentschler, MD, PhD - Medicine - Cardiovascular Division

programming and reprogramming cardiac conduction, arrhythmias, optical mapping, gene therapy

Farners Amargant i Riera - Ob & Gyn

Assistant Professor
investigates how biochemical and biomechanical signals from the ovary regulate folliculogenesis and oocyte quality

Erica Scheller - Internal Medicine - Bone & Mineral Diseases

diabetes, fracture risk, advanced imaging, neurobiology, metabolic disease, bone regeneration, biosensors

Jie Shen - Internal Medicine - Orthopaedic Surgery

osteoarthritis, fracture nonunion, epigenetics, DNA methylation, cellular metabolism, lipid metabolism, stem cell, chondrocyte

Matthew Silva - Orthopaedic Surgery

Skeletal biomechanics and mechanobiology; bone strength; osteoporosis; skeletal imaging

Simon Tang - Orthopaedic Surgery

Disc Degeneration; Low back pain; osteoporosis and fragility

Thorold Theunissen - Developmental Biology

Assistant Professor
Naïve Pluripotency, trophoblast development, stem-cell-based embryo models

Jessica Wagenseil - Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

vascular mechanics, vascular development, extracellular matrix, elastin, elastic fibers, vascular modeling

Mohamed Zayed - Surgery

peripheral vascular disease, arteriovenous implants for treatment of diabetes, venous thrombectomy device treating DVT