Register for the Topics in Bioengineering 2020-21 Series here (via Zoom). Registration is quick and easy; you only have to sign up once to receive the link that will be used for all TIB webinars this semester.

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A major unmet need are surgical solutions in the form of vascular patches for children with congenital heart disease. Current solutions involve multiple staged surgeries because the implants do not grow with the child. We have developed several methods using thermo-responsive polymers such as poly-Nisopropylacrylamide (PNIPAAm) to generate cell sheets or enzymatic degradation of polymers to generate layered tissue patches that mimic the cellular and extracellular matrix organization of native vessels. I will also discuss the various ways one can control vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotype and function (VSMCs are a major cell type of blood vessels) focusing on physicochemical properties of the substrate as well as cell engineering tools of induced pluripotent stem cells that can report on cell state. I will also discuss the challenge of cell sourcing and potential autologous strategies for vascular patches. Finally, I will share our recent efforts of 3D printing towards replicating structural organization in blood vessels. Through this integrated biomaterials science and engineering approach, we hope to be able to mimic blood vessel native structural organization, and hence function, to generate pediatric living vascular patches.