2026 PROGRAM
9:00-10:00am - Registration and Poster Setup
10:00am-12:00pm Works in Progress Talks
12:00pm-2:00pm Poster Session #1
12:45-1:15pm Lunch
1:15pm-2:00pm Poster Session #2
2:00pm-4:30pm Mini Symposium on Microphysiological Systems and Kewaunee Lecture featuring Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia)
Speakers
Nenad Bursac
“Human Myobundles for Studies of Muscle Pathophysiology”
The Bursac lab focuses on using pluripotent stem cells, tissue engineering, and gene therapy to study striated muscle biology and disease and to develop regenerative therapies in both in vitro and in vivo models. It integrates advanced 3D tissue models and animal studies to investigate muscle function, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic strategies for conditions such as muscular dystrophies and cardiomyopathies.
George Truskey
“Microphysiological System Models of Vascular Disease”
The Truskey lab develops engineered human blood vessel and skeletal muscle systems that model normal and disease states. We examine both genetic and acquired diseases and perform functional, genomic, and proteomic measures of the state of the
engineered tissues. These systems are then used to examine therapeutics and assess toxicity.
Sharon Gerecht
“Engineering human blood vessels for modeling and therapeutics”
The Gerecht lab focuses on how the cellular microenvironment and mechanical stressors regulate cell behavior to better understand tissue function, homeostasis, and disease development. It leverages these insights, particularly in vascular systems, to identify pathways that guide tissue healing, regeneration, and therapeutic development.
Keynote Speaker
Gordana Vunjak -Novakovic (Columbia)
"Engineering Human Tissues for Medical Impact"
Abstract: Tissue engineering has progressed in response to the growing clinical demand for biological substitutes capable of restoring tissues compromised by trauma or disease, with the ultimate goal of enabling patient survival and quality of life. For over three decades, regenerative medicine strategies have combined human cells with biomaterial scaffolds (serving as structural and organizational templates for tissue formation), and bioreactors (providing homeostasis along with molecular and physical cues that guide cell differentiation and tissue assembly, along with real-time monitoring of tissue responses. More recently, an additional approach has emerged in the form of microphysiological systems, also known as “organs-on-chip,” for their ability to recapitulate organ-level functions in health, injury, disease and regeneration, within biologically inspired environments. These platforms can support individual tissues or link different types of tissues to model systemic conditions. This lecture will discuss engineering of patient-specific human tissues for medical impact, from clinical to microphysiological scale, and highlight some of the opportunities, accomplishments and challenges in this rapidly advancing field.
Bio: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic is University Professor, as the first ever engineer to hold this highest academic rank at Columbia University. She is also the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Medical Sciences and Dental Medicine and a faculty in the Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Center for Human Development. She directs the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering and the NIH-funded Tissue Engineering Resource Center. The focus of her lab is on engineering human tissues for regenerative medicine and developing “organs-on-chip” models of injury and disease. She is broadly published and highly cited (top 1%), has mentored over 250 trainees, and founded with her students five biotech companies. She was elected to the Academia Europaea, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada – Academy of Science.
To register, email Jessica Canning: Jessica.Canning@duke.edu