BME7900 Seminar: Jonathan Song (Ohio State)

Probing vascular dynamics with engineered microsystems

The microcirculation contains complex and perfusable networks that are traditionally difficult to recreate and investigate their form and function in vitro. Moreover, the impact of perfusion, interstitial pressure, and altered extracellular matrix composition comprise specific physiological phenomena that are difficult to examine in vivo. These challenges have helped propel the use of several microsystems engineering techniques that all serve the same fabrication goal of encapsulating endothelialized vessels within a platform that can: 1) recreate the complex geometry and function of blood and lymphatic vessels of the microcirculation, 2) allow for biological mechanism study, and 3) enable facile experimental manipulation and analysis. Here I present our group’s contributions towards advancing “vessel-on-a-chip” technology, with an emphasis on our work in studying the interplay between fluid mechanical forces and extracellular matrix mechanical, microarchitectural, and transport properties in the initiation and control of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. I will also present our collaborative work in developing molecular biosensors that can be deployed in physiologic, microtissue-engineered environments to investigate biomolecular and biophysical mediators of cell function. Our novel approaches and key findings comprise important advancements toward refining our understanding of mechanisms of vessel outgrowth and remodeling.

Bio:
Jonathan W. Song is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State University. He is also a co-director of the Center for Cancer Engineering-CURES, a university-wide center of ~60 faculty that serves as a nexus for high-impact collaborative research and technology transfer at the interface of engineering and oncology at Ohio State University. Prof. Song’s group applies microtechnology, principles from tissue engineering, and quantitative engineering analysis for studying the physical dynamics of tumor and vascular biology. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER and was named an Emerging Investigator by the Royal Society of Chemistry/Lab on a Chip. Prof. Song is also a co-founder of EMBioSys, Inc, an NCI SBIR-funded startup that develops medical device-oriented solutions for metastatic cancers. Prior to Ohio State University, he received his B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University, earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan, and was a post-doctoral fellow in the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.