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Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) affects a significant percentage of the elderly population and presents differently in men and women. Moreover, the role of inflammation in this process has been recently recognized as critical for dictating disease progression. We use hydrogel biomaterials to recapitulate sex-specific healthy and diseased tissue states to elucidate cellular responses that lead to AVS, including fibrosis and calcification. Looking forward, we aim to engineer co-culture models to interrogate the interplay between valve and immune cells.
Collaborators: (U Iowa), Leslie Leinwand (��ƷSM����ӰƬ), (CU Anschutz)

Critical size bone defects present a major challenge with respect to bone healing, especially in patients with post-menopausal osteoporosis. Recent attempts to engineer bone regrowth by matrix-assisted transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells have been hindered by fast clearance and local immune activation, underscoring the need for alternative therapeutic approaches. We focus on developing biomaterial scaffolds with osteogenic and anti-inflammatory cellular cues to study single cell responses in vitro and facilitate regeneration in vivo. Acknowledging the difficulties of live-cell transplantation, we seek to identify acellular therapies that assist native tissue regeneration.
Collaborators: (UMass Amherst), Jason Burdick (��ƷSM����ӰƬ)

Following injury, muscle has inherent regenerative potential owing to the resident population of muscle satellite cells (MuSCs). However, during aging, the regenerative capacity of muscle is severely impaired by intrinsic alterations in cell state and extrinsic changes in ECM composition. We use synthetic biomaterials to encapsulate murine satellite cells and myofibers to study mechanotransduction and cell fate determination in the context of aging and injury. In the future, we intend to identify how nuclear mechanotransduction plays a key regulatory role during muscle regeneration.
Collaborators: Brad Olwin (��ƷSM����ӰƬ)