Intestinal Tissue Engineering (top of page)

Postdoctoral Fellow:
Jinyoung Park, M.D., pediatric surgeon, Tengu, Korea

Student:
Min Lee, B.S., M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, Currently Ph.D. student in Bioengineering

Collaborators:
Prof. Ben Wu, Department of Bioengineering

Short bowel syndrome occurs in children with an inadequate length of intestine to maintain normal digestion and absorption. These children are dependent on intravenous nutrition to sustain normal growth, however, this is associated with significant cost ($100,000 per patient per year) and morbidity, including infection and liver cirrhosis. Although intestinal transplantation for these patients is possible, outcomes are marginal and there are significant side effects associated with life-long immunosuppression. The long-term objective of this project is to engineer functional intestinal tissue that can be used to treat patients with short-bowel syndrome. Specifically, this project will focus on developing a genetically modified intestinal cell that can be grown on a bio-engineered scaffolding and ultimately, implanted into an animal model. The project can be broken down into three specific goals:

1. Developing a genetically-modified intestinal stem cell line.
2. Examining the effect of engineered scaffolds on the functions of these intestinal cells.
3. Following the fate of these intestinal cells after they have been implanted in an animal model. (Funded by UCLA Chancellor’s Border Crossing Initiative, Stein Oppenheimer Award, American Surgical Association Foundation)

Adrenal Cortical Stem Cells (top of page)