Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Sarah Heilshorn (Materials Science & Engineering)

“Design of Universal Orthogonal Crosslinkers for 3D Bioprinting of Multi-Material Constructs”

3D bioprinting, a powerful technique for patterning living cells and biomaterials, has demonstrated the potential to replicate the complex spatial patterning of biomaterials within native tissues. The Heilshorn lab has recently developed a diffusion-based, universal crosslinking strategy that allows for the crosslinking of multiple printed biomaterials using a single mechanism. Coco is using CAD software to design multi-material structures that mimic spatial orientations of human tissues, and then model the crosslinking diffusion and reaction steps within the CAD structures on COMSOL, a multi-physics simulation software. This project will provide physiologically-relevant designs for bioprinting tissue-like constructs and give insight to the material crosslinking process.