BioMedInnovate Seminar Series: Mimicking Human Biology — From Tissue Engineering to Microphysiological Systems

Join us for “Mimicking Human Biology: From Tissue Engineering to Microphysiological Systems,” presented by Mark J. Mondrinos of Tulane University. This lecture examines the evolution of tissue engineering from early efforts to generate replacement tissues and organs to the development of microphysiological systems, also known as organ on a chip technologies. The presentation will explore how engineered human tissue models are advancing mechanistic discovery and strengthening preclinical drug testing.

Dr. Mondrinos will review current advances and major challenges in building physiologically accurate human disease models. He will present ongoing work from the Tissue Engineering and Microphysiological Systems Lab, including vascularized platforms and models of cancers, diabetic vascular disease, and organ fibrosis. Particular emphasis will be placed on the importance of capturing individual biological differences, especially sex based physiological variation, to improve disease modeling and therapeutic development.

Dr. Mondrinos is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and a research leader in sex based precision medicine whose work spans tissue engineering, organ chip technologies, and translational biomedical research.

He will be joined by doctoral researcher G. Wills Kpeli, whose research focuses on vascularized microphysiological systems for studying sex specific lung cancer biology. Their work reflects a commitment to scientific innovation and to expanding STEM education through community outreach in New Orleans.