Talk title: 3D bioprinting personalized neural tissues for drug screening

Talk abstract:
3D bioprinting can create living human tissues on demand based on specifications contained in a digital file. Such highly customized, physiologically-relevant 3D human tissue models can screen potential drug candidates as an alternative to expensive pre-clinical animal testing. The Willerth lab has developed a novel fibrin-based bioink for bioprinting neural tissues derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which can become any cell type found in the body. Our team uses Aspect Biosystem’s novel RX1 bioprinter featuring Lab-On-a-Printer (LOP) technology as it enables us to fabricate complex structures found in healthy neural tissues. We were the first group to use this cutting edge bioprinter to generate tissues from pluripotent stem cells. The microfluidic LOP printhead cartridges generate cell-containing hydrogel fibers of defined diameters that are precisely deposited into defined 3D structures using a sheath fluid that triggers hydrogel cross-linking of the bioink. The sheath fluid also insulates cells within the fiber from shear stress, protecting fragile primary cells from shear-induced cell death. This process allows us to maintain high levels of viability not previously seen in the literature. Here I will discuss the latest work from our group detailing the composition of our 3D bioprinted tissues and our new spin-off company - Axolotl Biosciences.

Biography:
Dr. Willerth, a Full Professor in Biomedical Engineering, holds a Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Victoria where she has dual appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Division of Medical Sciences. She also holds an appointment with the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. She serves as the Acting Director of the Centre for Biomedical Research and the Biomedical Engineering undergraduate program at the University of Victoria. She is an active member of the steering committee of the B.C. Regenerative Medicine Initiative and the Stem Cell Network. She also serves as a staff scientist at Creative Destruction Lab. She also was the President of the Canadian Biomaterials Society serving a three-year term as President-Elect then President and Past President from 2017-2019.

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