It is no secret that cardiovascular disease is a serious contributor to mortality in the United States and abroad. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease claims 600,000 lives every year in the U.S. Valvular heart disease remains a primary contributor to these statistics, specifically the mitral valve, which of the four heart valves has the highest prevalence of degenerative disease. To combat these statistics, surgical and prosthetic solutions have been created to correct valvular complications. Tissue engineered solutions however remain the ideal treatment, despite their recent clinical failures, due to their regenerative and translational potential. The primary goal of Chris' research is to develop a stable mitral valve scaffold that when seeded with valvular interstitial cells and conditioned in a bioreactor will generate a tissue engineered valve that mimics the physiological functions of a healthy mitral valve. Ultimately, Chris aims to make this novel scaffold translatable from lab development to clinical success.

I received my B.Sc. from University of Tabriz in Applied Chemistry, and my M.Sc. from Tehran Polytechnic in Chemical Engineering-Biotechnology. After finishing my master I joined to Tehran University research group in biotechnology field. Along with that I joined to Oil North drilling as head of R&D division. Joining Clemson University I will be working on stem cells as a way of treatment for patients of diabetes type I.

Natasha Topoluk
ntopolu@g.clemson.edu
BTRL Member since 2010

General trauma and stroke are the leading causes of cranial injury each year. Current treatment options fail to fulfill the needs of this complex architecture, permanently compromising a patient's quality of life. Tasha's research employs tissue engineering to develop an implantable scaffold capable of returning functional tissue to damaged areas, ultimately leading to functional recovery of patients afflicted by cranial injury.

Surgical repair of torn rotator cuff tendons is a common orthopaedic procedure in the United States, with nearly 300,000 repairs occurring annually. Despite improvements in surgical techniques used to re-attach the tendon to its boney insertion, clinically successful outcomes amongst patients are variable and re-tear rates can be exceedingly high. Grace's research focuses on the use of stem cells in conjunction with growth factors that are known for being involved in tenogenesis as an adjunct to surgical repair to aid in improving tendon healing and repair strength.

The primary focus of Katy’s research is to develop a spine bioreactor to mechanically test tissue engineered intervetebral discs, created and developed by Jeremy Mercuri. This will be accomplished by examining the forces acting upon the IV disc as well as determining the nutrients supplied to the disc during daily activity. A spine bioreactor will then be designed and built to apply the loads and nutrients to the tissue engineered constructs to determine their response ex vivo.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly 8 million people in the US suffer due to complications resulting from myocardial infarction (MI), and it is estimated that 800,000 new cases occur each year. Following MI, the affected areas of heart tissue become fibrotic and are slowly weakened, resulting in congestive heart failure. Jason’s research focuses on developing a tissue engineering approach to rescuing heart function post-MI. He hopes to accomplish this by generating a tissue construct which mimics both the physiological structure and function of the native ventricular heart wall for replacement of the damaged tissue. Ultimately, his research will strive to translate this approach to a clinical therapy by finding ways to harvest the affected patient’s own cells and integrate them into natural scaffolds.

It is observed that a high percentage of individuals develop some form of vascular disease in their lifetime. The overarching scope of George’s research is developing long (> 25 cm), small caliber (< 6 mm diameter) tissue engineered vascular grafts, with the end goal of replacing atherosclerotic or otherwise diseased vascular tissue. Experimentation is being conducted into seeding said grafts with cells of several types in order to functionalize the grafts for particular end-stage applications. Research is also being conducted into bioreactor design for both of these project areas in order to subject these grafts to the necessary physiological mechanical and biochemical cues.

The realm of tissue engineering has heralded both immense potential for solutions to cardiovascular disease and dramatic failures in clinical trials. Such complications are multiplied among patients with diabetes, as hyperglycemic conditions have greater frequency of cardiovascular disorders. As such, current cardiovascular scaffolds are expected to fail comprehensively in diabetic environments. The primary goal of James's research is to develop a stable, "diabetic-resistant" scaffold for cardiovascular tissue engineering applications. This novel scaffold will be designed to withstand high levels of glucose and oxidative stress, yet retain all biomechanical and biocompatible function. James also enjoys a nice, warm pair of socks straight from the dryer on a cold winter morning.

In April of 2009, Lee Sierad completed the work for his Master’s Degree at Clemson: developing a bioreactor system that will mechanically test heart valves under physiological conditions while maintaining cell viability. Continuing his studies as a Ph.D. student at Clemson, Lee’s research is now focused on using that bioreactor system to induce calcification in a heart valve. His research aims are to pinpoint specific causes of calcification in heart valves and to investigate a possible means of reversing calcification using in vitro studies.