Dr. Jinah Jang received her PhD at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in Korea, and trained as postdoctoral fellow in POSTECH and Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at University of Washington. She has joined the POSTECH in 2017 and now an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering, Convergence IT Engineering, and School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering. She has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals in the are of bioprinting and tissue engineering. Her h-index and citations are 48 and more than 10,380, respectively (by Google Scholar). She currently serves as the Associate Editor of Bio-Design and Manufacturing and as an Executive board of directors (Secretary General) for International Society for Biofabrication. She also has received numerous awards including the SME 2022 Sandra L. Bouckley Outstanding Young Engineer Award (2022), and Korea Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society (2021). Her research interest lies in engineering the functional human tissues using high-performance stem cells and printable biomaterials-based 3D bioprinting technology.

Topic title: Bioprinting Technology for Advanced Tissue Therapeutics

Abstract:

The recent development of bioengineering enables to create human tissues by integrating various native microenvironments, including tissue-specific cells, biochemical and biophysical cues. A significant transition of 3D bioprinting technology into the biomedical field helps to improve the function of engineered tissues by recapitulating physiologically relevant geometry, complexity, and vascular network. Bioinks, used as printable biomaterials, facilitate dispensing of cells through a dispenser as well as support their viability and function by providing engineered extracellular matrix. The successful construction of functional human tissues requires accurate environments that are able to mimic the biochemical and biophysical properties of the target tissue. This talk will cover my research interests in building 3D human tissues and organs to understand, diagnose, and treat various intractable diseases, including cardiovascular, diabetic diseases and cancers. A development of tissue-derived decellularized extracellular matrix bioink will be mainly discussed as a straightforward strategy to provide biological and biophysical cues into engineered tissues. I will also discuss the development of a 3D vascularized tissue construct that is generated by integrating the concept of tissue engineering and the developed platform technologies. Combined with recent advances in human pluripotent stem cell technologies, printed human tissues could serve as an enabling platform for studying complex physiology in tissue and organ contexts of individuals.