Description

Modeling Diseases in Human Vascular Microphysiological Systems" will feature Dr. George Truskey, Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation and Professor at Duke University.

Biography
George A. Truskey, PhD, is Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation and the R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He received a BS degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT.  His current research interests include the response of cells to physical forces, cardiovascular and skeletal muscle tissue engineering and the development of human microphysiological systems for disease modeling and drug and toxicity testing. Currently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Heart Association and the International Academy of Medical & Biological Engineering (IAMBE).

Abstract
Human microphysiological systems using cells derived from individual with various genetic or acquired diseases hold great promise to model these diseases in vitro and thereby provide more accurate systems to evaluate promising therapeutic approaches.  Towards this end, we have developed models to assess genetic and acquired diseases.  Arteriole-scale tissue engineered blood vessels (TEBVs) are fabricated with primary cells or induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells.  These TEBVs replicate normal vessel function and the disease pathology for early atherosclerosis and an accelerated aging disease, Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome.  We have also explored using these systems to explore environmental and genetic factors that affect vascular function. These results demonstrate that these model systems can identify key factors influencing disease progression that can then be targeted for drug development.