IRES Track I: US-Canada Collaborative Research on Biomaterials for stem cell culture and neural differentiation

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This award supports international research experiences for U.S. undergraduate students from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) at the University of Victoria (UVic) in Canada in interdisciplinary research representing the fields of bioengineering and neuroscience. The project engages primarily Hispanic engineering students at UTEP, a majority Hispanic 4-year, public institution. Reciprocal visits to UTEP by UVic students will be supported with Canadian funds. UTEP students will be afforded professional development and educational opportunities in cutting-edge research. Specifically, the project engages the synergism of stem cell biology with advanced 3-dimensional biomaterial technology to manufacture tissue from stem cells. Generating patient-specific "artificial" tissue allows the researchers to control the rate of growth and differentiation of stem cells. This research is significant in paving the way for modeling disease and for future drug development. Working together, the interdisciplinary team aims to identify unique approaches of targeting differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells [iPSCs] into neural phenotypes by utilizing advanced materials and processing. Specifically, the UTEP team has expertise in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) culture and 3D bioprinting, and UVic has expertise in culturing neuronal differentiation of human iPSC on fibrin-based scaffolds. The research focus is the application of microfluidic-based 3D bioprinting for coprinting of human iPSCs together with biomaterial scaffolds to generate bio-composites of the desired architecture with high fidelity. Bioprinting iPSCs with advanced biomaterials and scaffolds bears the promise to develop 3D tissues, ideally including encapsulated cells and facilitating their proliferation, and targeted differentiation. The project enables addressing critical questions in the field: 1) How can advanced materials and their unique designs facilitate stem cell culture and promote their differentiation? 2) How can 3D bioprinting be applied as an advanced manufacturing technique to mimic the complex environment for regulating growth and differentiation of stem cells? 3) Does the differentiated progeny of cells cultured atop micro-textured scaffolds exhibit enhanced functionality and phenotype, compared with controls? Thus, the scientific goal is to better understand the role of growth factors and micro-environmental niche and cues released from biomaterial scaffolds in the regulation of adult human iPSC differentiation into neural phenotypes. It is widely known that distractive biomaterial scaffolds that incorporate patterned structures and specific compartments of growth factors can more intricately guide stem cell development. Achieving this goal enables the ability to address fundamental neurobiological questions about neuronal growth, differentiation, which is essential for designing treatments for nervous system disorders or traumatic brain injury.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.