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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The IRM Program in Cell and Tissue Engineering is integrated with Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration to provide novel approaches for the study of stem cells and how they form tissues and organs.

The formation of functional tissues is one of the goals of regenerative medicine, and the Program in Cell and Tissue Engineering works to provide IRM investigators with enabling technologies for the safe and effective growth of tissues.

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

The program is focused on identifying critical factors that impact how cells organize into tissues and organs, and engineering those factors into scaffolds and devices that encourage tissue formation, whether for laboratory investigations or for clinical therapies and direct implantation.

The program seeks to:

  ♦ Investigate the role of biophysical factors, such as scaffold architecture and biomechanical forces, in guiding stem cell behavior
  ♦ Develop engineering methods to isolate, generate, and expand stem cells while controlling growth
  ♦ Use materials science, microfabrication, and nanotechnologies to develop novel biomaterials for controlling cells and directing tissue
    formation
  ♦ Develop specific strategies for manipulating how cells assemble into well defined functional units

ADVANCEMENTS IN MEDICINE

The Program in Cell and Tissue Engineering is nationally recognized for its discoveries in the role physical forces play in guiding stem cell differentiation and in the production of engineered micro-environments for directing stem-cell based tissue formation.   Investigators within the program are working on a number of clinical applications, including the development of replacement strategies for the treatment of damaged musculoskeletal tissues (bone, cartilage, meniscus, intervertebral disc) and cardiovascular tissues.

	“Bioengineering is the application of engineering methodology to cells, tissues and molecules. My engineering background allows me to bring a different skill set and integrate bioengineering within different research areas such as those in cardiac, lung, epithelial and digestive regeneration and stem cell research.”
	Christophter S. Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Director IRM Program in Cell and Tissue Engineering and Skirkanich Professor of Innovation in Bioengineering.  Dr. Chen developed micro- and nanofabrication tools for applications in cell and tissue engineering, and used these to discover that mechanical forces are important for stem cell and blood vessel cell development.