We welcome our next seminar speaker Dr. Rhima Coleman from the University of Michigan. She is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering.
On Both Sides of the Cell Membrane: The Effect of Microenvironmental Parameters and Synthetic Gene Circuits on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Chondrogenesis and Maturation
Abstract: While tissue engineering with adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offer exciting alternative therapies for repairing traumatic cartilage injury, many challenges remain with respect to engineering a functional replacement, due, in part, to our incomplete understanding of microenvironmental influences on stem cell fate and chondrocyte maturation. I will present a pre-chondrogenic stem cell niche developed in my lab in which we systematically investigate the combinatorial effects of multiple exogenous cues on early chondrogenesis and long-term phenotype in a high-throughput format. To regulate cell phenotype from the inside of the cell, we have designed a gene circuit that silence the activity of transcription factors known to drive chondrocyte maturation towards the bone formation pathway. In these ways, we aim to improve chondrogenesis and phenotypic stability of adult MSCs and ultimately their success in generating functional cartilage tissue.
Bio: Dr. Rhima Coleman received her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester. She then received a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focus was tissue engineering of cartilage to prevent growth discrepancies in children. Dr. Coleman then moved to Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City to study methods to prevent mineralization of cartilage for her postdoctoral work. Finally, Dr. Coleman joined the faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2012 to form the Cartilage Healing and Regeneration Laboratory, where she combines her background in mechanics and tissue engineering to investigate methods to develop mechanically functional cartilage replacement and restore joint mechanics to physiologically normal conditions.
