Research and Opportunities
Scroll down to learn more about the different areas that members of our group specialize in! We love collaboration and promoting opportunities for trainees - See our members page for contact info!
Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Bioprocess Development
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) present a large number of opportunities for use in regenerative medicine given their capacity for self-renewal, and ability to differentiate into any cell type present in an adult organism. However, their potential does not come without risk. Our lab is a leader in the design, implementation, and scale-up of protocols to efficiently expand large quantities of pluripotent stem cells while maintaining pluripotent phenotype and cell population integrity. Our lab is currently engaged in several projects that directly influence iPSC bioprocessing. They are detailed below!
hiPSC Media, Protocol, and Process Development
Members of our team are actively engaged in the formulation of media compositions, advanced protocols, and various aspects of process development to optimize proliferation, phenotype, and population integrity for large-scale hiPSC bioprocessing. This work integrates biology and engineering disciplines to create novel environments for upstream hiPSC expansion, while maintaining considerations for downstream processing, clinical translation, safety, and efficacy in stem-cell derived therapeutics.
Project leads: Breanna Borys, Brett Abraham, Tiffany Dang, James Colter
Computational Fluid Dynamics to Simulate Energy Dissipation in Bioprocess Systems
Our lab is currently investigating the effect of shear stress on gene regulatory network activation and structural organization in pluripotent stem cell populations. An integral part of this work includes modeling and simulating fluid physics to characterize mechano-temporal dynamics within the bioprocess, and utilizing the results to advance protocol and system development.
Project leads: Breanna Borys, Tiffany Dang
Multi-Omics Approach to Elucidate Dynamic Population Phenotype and Integrity in the Bioprocess
An interdependence exists between epigenetic activity, genomic integrity, gene regulatory network dynamics, and metabolism in the context of cell state and integrity. Our lab is studying these relationships using a multi-omics improve process development and enhance the health and quality of induced pluripotent stem cell populations for clinical translation.
Project leads: James Colter, Breanna Borys, Tiffany Dang, Brett Abraham
Design and Implementation of Advanced Process Analytical Tools and Systems
Members of our group are engaged in the design and implementation of non-invasive multi-sensor and scale-down bioreactor arrays to continuously cultivate, monitor, and utilize bioprocess information in real-time. Coupled with our work utilizing computational methods, these tools provide new means to control and intervene in the bioprocess.
Project leads: James Colter, Breanna Borys
Designing Predictive Analytics and Intervention Strategies
Our team is integrating multi-omics datasets and computational methods to model phenotype and proliferation dynamics for hiPSC populations in the bioprocess. This project aims to build the foundations for novel predictive analytics and intervention strategies in large-scale hiPSC bioprocess development.
Project leads: James Colter