Tissue Engineering Laboratory –
Patrick Tresco, Ph.D.

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Lab Contact Information

Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building (SMBB), 4th Floor
36 South Wasatch Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Phone:

801.585.5890 (lab)
801.585.5151 (fax)

Goal: To develop biomaterials technologies for the integration of tissues with medical devices.

Our group is engaged in the development of a broad range of biomaterials technologies for integration into healthy tissue or for the reconstruction, replacement, or repair of damaged tissue. Two central themes in our work are understanding and controlling the foreign body response to implanted materials and developing cell-based biomaterials. Our group has extensive expertise in bioengineering, biomaterials sciences, neuroscience, cell-culture and tissue engineering methods, immunohistological characterization, device fabrication and testing, and micro- and nanoscale engineering.

Inducing alignment in astrocyte tissue constructs by surface ligands patterned on biomaterials

Planar substrates with patterned ligands were used to induce astrocyte alignment whereas substrates with uniform fields of ligand were used to produce random cell orientation. DRG neurons plated on top of oriented astrocyte monolayers exhibited directional outgrowth along aligned astrocytes, demonstrating that purely biological cues provided by the oriented astrocytes were sufficient to provide guidance cues.

Brain Institute scientists show MESA students what it’s like to be a researcher

On April 18, 2012, the Brain Institute hosted a visit by 70 Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) students from Salt Lake City high schools. MESA is a statewide public education program that encourages underrepresented students, including women and ethnic minorities, to pursue advanced study and careers in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM).