CAREER: Expanding the Photo-Manufacturing Toolbox to Enable Production of Bio-sourced Multi-scaled Biomimicking Materials

现代生物学和医学的发现和进步是通过使用模拟人体组织结构、机械和生化复杂性的工程材料而得到加强的。这项由该学院早期职业发展（Career）奖支持的研究将产生新的知识，因为研究人员利用基于光的三维打印来解决目前限制仿生材料制造的三个关键障碍：打印树脂的毒性、性能的可调性以及创造跨越生物学相关长度尺度的特征的能力。该研究项目将扩大先进生物材料制造工具的广度，并促进产品和设备的开发，从而更好地诊断、研究和治疗多种疾病和病症。该项目还包括为从高中到研究生院的历史上代表性不足和服务不足的新兴研究人员创建一个社区。参与者将通过合作指导网络连接整个教育连续体，并将参与与3d打印生物材料相关的学习和研究机会。因此，该项目将有助于提高生物材料制造劳动力的多样性和技术实力。虽然光制造是一种很有前途的技术，用于创造先进的生物材料，但它的使用受到几个主要障碍的限制：1)许多传统的光引发剂具有生物破坏性；2)在微观和中尺度连续体上控制机械物理特性是具有挑战性的；3)由于STEM中一些群体的历史代表性不足和实践培训机会不足，阻碍了创新。研究小组将通过量化双光子聚合（微尺度）和数字光处理（中观尺度）中候选生物源光引发剂的效率和细胞相容性来解决这些限制。此外，该团队将开发交联率和最终特征属性之间的数学关系，然后利用这些关系来确定耦合微观和中观打印的适当方法，以创建具有连续和可预测的机械物理属性的多尺度特征。此外，研究团队将通过创建“生物工程新兴研究人员社区的3D打印”，帮助提高医疗设备和制造劳动力的多样性和技术水平。这个社区将包括各级教育和研究参与机会，重点是合作指导和专业发展。研究和教育活动紧密结合：科学发现将应用于学生驱动的项目，学生在这些应用中的创造力将刺激创新，推动未来在光电制造和应用领域的进步。总体而言，该项目的成果预计将通过催化生物应用的光制造的进步，增强制造和生物材料的劳动力多样性和技术实力，产生重大的积极影响。该项目由先进制造计划和促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Modern discoveries and advancement in biology and medicine are enhanced by the use of engineered materials that mimic the structural, mechanical, and biochemical complexities of human tissue. The research supported by this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award will generate new knowledge as the investigators leverage light-based three-dimensional printing to address three key barriers that currently limit the fabrication of biomimetic materials: toxicity of printing resins, tunability of properties, and ability to create features that span biologically relevant length scales. This research project will expand the breadth of tools available for manufacturing advanced biomaterials and facilitate the development of products and devices that enable better diagnosis, study, and treatment of numerous diseases and conditions. The project also includes the creation of a community of historically underrepresented and underserved rising researchers, from high school to graduate school. Participants will be connected across the educational continuum by a cooperative mentoring network and will engage in learning and research opportunities related to 3D-printed biomaterials. As such, the project will help to enhance the diversity and technical strength of the biomaterials manufacturing workforce. Although photo-manufacturing is a promising technique for the creation of advanced biomaterials, its use is limited by several major barriers: i) many traditional photoinitiators are biologically disruptive, ii) controlling mechanophysical properties across the micro- and meso-scale continuum is challenging, and iii) innovation is hindered by historical underrepresentation of some groups in STEM and insufficient practical training opportunities. The research team will address these limitations by quantifying both the efficiency and cytocompatibility of biosourced photoinitiator candidates in two-photon polymerization (micro-scale) and digital light processing (meso-scale). Additionally, the team will develop mathematical relationships between crosslinking rate and final feature properties, then employ these relationships to determine appropriate methods for coupling micro and meso printing to create multiscale features with continuous and predictable mechanophysical properties. Furthermore, the research team will help to enhance the diversity and technical skill level of the medical device and manufacturing workforce by creating the “3D Printing in Bioengineering Rising Researcher Community.” This community will include education and research engagement opportunities at all levels, with a strong emphasis on cooperative mentoring and professional development. The research and educational activities are tightly integrated: scientific discoveries will be applied to student-driven projects, and student creativity in these applications will spur innovation for future advancements in photo-manufacturing and applied fields. Overall, the outcomes of the project are expected to have a significant positive impact by catalyzing the advancement of photo-manufacturing for biological applications and enhancing workforce diversity and technical strength in manufacturing and biomaterials. This project is jointly funded by the Advanced Manufacturing program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.