Daniel Chen, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan (UofS)
xbc719@mail.usask.ca
Biography:
Dr. Chen is a Professor with Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan (UofS), Canada. Prior to his appointment with UofS in 2003, he received his PhD from the UofS and Post-Doctorate training with Queen's University, Canada. His research interest is mainly in bio-fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering. He is the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of his research excellence, including the 2016 “Achievement Award” from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation. Dr. Chen is the Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering (CSME).
Topic title：Bioprinting Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
Abstract：Millions of people suffer from tissue/organ injuries (e.g., peripheral nerve injuries and heart attacks). Tissue/organ transplantation is the gold standard to treat such injuries but is severely restricted as an option due to the limited availability of donor tissues/organs. Tissue engineering is an emerging field that aims to produce tissue/organ substitutes or scaffolds for implanting into patients, thus providing a permanent solution to treat tissue/organ injuries. In tissue engineering, scaffolds made from biodegradable biomaterials play a crucial role in supporting/promoting cell growth and tissue regeneration as well as transporting nutrients and wastes, but the design and fabrication of scaffolds have proven to be challenging tasks. One important barrier is the inability to fabricate scaffolds with a microstructure and spatially-controlled distribution of cells that mimics the structure and cell organization in native tissues, and with both mechanical/biological properties appropriate for tissue engineering. Recently, the speaker’s research group has been active to pursue research on bioprinting scaffolds for various tissue engineering applications, including the repair of peripheral nerve injuries, spinal cord injuries, articular cartilage, and myocardial infarction. In this presentation, the speaker will report their recent work and achievements, and discuss the challenges and the opportunities in this emerging field. The use of synchrotron–based imaging to track scaffold placement and success in tissue engineering applications will also be discussed.
