Researchers face a fundamental challenge as they seek to scale up human tissue regeneration from small lab samples to full-size tissues, bones, even whole organs to implant in people to treat disease or traumatic injuries: how to establish a vascular system that delivers blood deep into the developing tissue. a multidisciplinary team of researchers at WPI, along with great minds from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Arkansas State University-Jonesboro have successfully turned to plants for inspiration.
WPI's research in health and biotechnology crosses multiple disciplines and embraces a wide range of focus areas.
Cellular biology—neuronal migration and degeneration, the molecular basis of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation
Regenerative bioscience and stem cell biology—repairing damaged hearts with adult stem cells, creating bioengineered scaffolds for soft tissue repair, developing methods to reprogram adult cells to act more like stem cells to repair wounds
Tissue mechanics and mechanobiology—exploring how mechanical forces contribute to proper growth and healing of connective tissue and bones
Biophysics—understanding metal ion transport across cell membranes, exploring the role of protein signaling pathways in disease, and uncovering the role of the cell's internal architecture in a host of biological process
Disease treatment—attacking malaria with whole-plant therapy, searching for new drug targets for common fungal infections
Animal behavior—mental flexibility in pollinating insects
News
Jagan Srinivasan, associate professor of biology and biotechnology, reviews C. elegans images with research associate Elizabeth Diloreto.
August 15, 2019
A circulating cancer cell (pink) attaches to carbon nanotube surface; white blood cells (blue) do not adhere and are later washed away.
July 23, 2019
WPI chemical engineering professor Eric Young is part of a multi-institution research team that is developing a biosecurity tool to detect engineered microorganisms based on their unique DNA signatures
May 21, 2019
Billiar works in the lab with Monica Leigh Whitehorn, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering.
March 18, 2019
Eleanor Loiacono, professor in the Foisie Business School (center), encourages high tech companies to invest in neurodiverse employees. (Pictured from left to right are Ph.D students Shiya Cao and Fadi Almazyad, who were not involved with this project).
February 14, 2019