Lecture, Research

Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series featuring Lijie Grace Zhang, PhD – “Integrating 3D/4D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology for Complex Tissue Regeneration”

Name: Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series featuring Lijie Grace Zhang, PhD – “Integrating 3D/4D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology for Complex Tissue Regeneration”
Start: 2022-12-08T16:00:00-05:00
End: 2022-12-08T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Hybrid – New Research Building Auditorium & via Zoom

Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series

Lijie Grace Zhang, PhD
Professor and SEAS Associate Dean for Research
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Primary)
Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Medicine
School of Engineering and Applied Science
The George Washington University

Title & Abstract:

“Integrating 3D/4D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology for Complex Tissue Regeneration”

As an emerging biomanufacturing technique, 3D bioprinting offers great precision and control of the internal architecture and outer shape of a scaffold, allowing for close recapitulation of complicated structures found in biological tissue. In addition, 4D bioprinting is a highly innovative additive manufacturing process to fabricate pre-designed, self-assembly structures with the ability to transform from one state to another directly off the bioprinter. The term “4D” refers to the time-dependent dynamic process triggered by specific stimulation according to predesigned requirements. The main objective of our research is to develop novel biologically inspired nano or smart inks and advanced 3D/4D bioprinting techniques to fabricate the next generation of complex tissue/organ constructs (such as vascularized tissue, cardiac tissue, and neural tissue). Our pioneering work in designing novel 4D bioprinting smart and nanomaterials has shown great promise for various biomedical applications. We have successfully designed a series of novel 4D bioprinted tissue structures with multi-responsive abilities, including internal stress-induced, solvent-responsive, thermo-responsive, and light-responsive tissue constructs. These smart constructs exhibit excellent biocompatibility and have significantly enhanced various stem cell functions when compared to traditional bioprinting constructs, thus promising for complex tissue/organ regeneration and various disease treatments.