3D bioprinting is a major technological innovation that enables the additive manufacture of living bioinks into complex tissue structures. We are interested in the development of new 3D bioprinting methods and bioinks. Previous work includes:
In Situ Endothelialization
This study was led by Dr Liliang Ouyang during his postdoc at Imperial College London. We developed a void-free bioprinting method as a highly efficient, in-situ approach to endothelialization that avoided the need for post-seeding (link: Advanced Functional Materials 2020). This is linked to my research activity in tissue engineering.
3D Printing “Unprintable” Hydrogel Bioinks
This study was led by Dr Liliang Ouyang during his postdoc at Imperial College London. We developed a new method that used the thermal gelation of gelatin to enable the bioprinting of conventionally “unprintable” hydrogel bioinks for cell culture and tissue engineering (link: Science Advances 2020). This is linked to my research activity in tissue engineering.
Droplet Interface Bilayers for High-resolution Bioprinting
This study was led by Dr Alex Graham during his PhD at the University of Oxford. We printed cells within water-in-oil emulsions that formed droplet interface bilayers upon assembly, and demonstrated that this method could be used for high-resolution bioprinting (link: Scientific Reports 2017). This is linked to my research activity in tissue engineering.
Hybrid Bioinks for Templated 3D Bioprinting
This study was performed in collaboration with Dr Madeline Burke and Dr Ben Carter at the University of Bristol. We showed that the thermal gelation of pluronic could be used as a temporary guide for the printing of cellularized alginate hydrogels, which we used for cartilage and bone tissue engineering (link: Advanced Healthcare Materials 2016). This is linked to my research activity in tissue engineering.
If you are interested in any of these topics, you can find out more information in this recent review (Advanced Functional Materials 2020).