Dr. Chen is a Professor with Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan (USask), Canada. Prior to his appointment with USask in 2003, he received his PhD from the USask and Post-Doctorate training with Queen's University, Canada. His research interests are mainly in the design and bioprinting of scaffolds and the development of scaffold-based strategies for tissue engineering. Dr. Chen is the Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering (CSME). For more information, please link to: https://researchers.usask.ca/daniel-chen”  

Topic title: Bioinks and Extrusion Bioprinting Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering  

Abstract:

Bioinks are formulations of biomaterials and living cells, sometimes with growth factors or other biomolecules, while extrusion bioprinting is an emerging technique to apply or deposit these bioinks to create three-dimensional (3D) constructs with architectures and mechanical / biological properties that mimic those of native human tissue or organs. Printed constructs have found wide application in tissue engineering for repair or treatment of tissue/organ injuries, as well as in vitro tissue modelling for testing or validating newly developed therapeutics and vaccines prior to their use in humans. Successful printing of constructs and their subsequent applications rely on the properties of the formulated bioinks, including the rheological, mechanical, and biological properties, as well as the selected printing process. In this presentation, the speaker will critically report the latest developments in bioinks and extrusion bioprinting for tissue engineering, focusing on bioink synthesis and characterization, bioprinting constructs, as well as tissue engineering that has been pursuing in the speaker’s lab. The speaker will also discuss the challenges and opportunities in these emerging fields, along with the use of synchrotron–based imaging to track scaffold placement and success in tissue engineering