Please join the Department of Chemical Engineering on Monday, May 6, for a seminar by Dr. Barbara Chan, a professor from the University of Hong Kong’s Biomedical Engineering Programme. She will speak about her research team's multiphoton-based 3D microprinting technology's capability to fabricate complex protein microstructures and micropatterns.
Abstract
Cells reside in a complex microenvironment or niche in tissues, sustaining their lifelong maintenance and determining their pattern of differentiation. Major cell niche factors include neighbor cells, soluble factors, extracellular matrix, topological features and mechanical information. These niche factors interact among one another to present important signals to living cells. In vitro reconstitution of a biomimetic cell niche with individually controlled niche factors is critical for investigating the interactions between cells and their microenvironment.
Dr. Barbara Chan’s team has established a multiphoton-based 3D microprinting technology, based on photochemical crosslinking of biomolecules, as a free-form microfabrication platform. In this talk, she will discuss the technical capability of the multiphoton microfabrication platform in fabricating complex protein microstructures and micropatterns with precisely and spatially controlled topological features, mechanical properties, extracellular matrix niche and soluble factor niche, decoupling various niche factors and the potential applications.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Barbara Chan obtained her BSc in Biochemistry and PhD in the Surgical Science Division of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She received her postdoctoral fellowship training from the Wellman Laboratories for Photomedicine, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chan was recruited to the University of Hong Kong in 2003 and served as one of the core members in the Biomedical Engineering program. Her research interests include tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, natural biomaterials, stem cells, mechanoregulation, multiphoton microfabrication and laser medicine.