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Tissue Model of The Epithelial Mesenchymal Trophic Unit

A 3D scaffold that can mimic properties and functions of in-vivo ECM and will be compatible with the lung epithelial cells used for experimentation.

Project Overview

A multitude of chronic lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and COPD can cause damage to epithelial tissues of the lungs. This presents a problem because when this tissue is damaged, a fibrotic response is triggered in sub-epithelial fibroblasts that results in further disease and fibrosis. There are currently no tissue models that accurately recreate the lung extracellular matrix and its changes due to cell injury. Such a model would need to have tunable mechanical stiffness and porosity, as well as be cell adhesive and degradable. Dr. Brasier of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health requires a scaffold that meets these criteria while having a uniform and replicable composition that allows for epithelial cell culture at an air-liquid-interface (ALI) so that his lab can study the effects of fibrosis on small-airway lung epithelial cells.

Team Picture

Nick Herbst, Will Onuscheck, Carley Schwartz, Elijah Diederich, Anuraag Shreekanth Belavadi
Nick Herbst, Will Onuscheck, Carley Schwartz, Elijah Diederich, Anuraag Shreekanth Belavadi

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Contact Information

Team Members

  • Ms. Carley Schwartz - Team Leader
  • Anuraag Shreekanth Belavadi - Communicator
  • William Onuscheck - BSAC
  • Nick Herbst - BWIG
  • Elijah Diederich - BPAG
  • Kenyana Tyiska

Advisor and Client

  • Dr. Kristyn Masters - Advisor
  • Dr. Allan Brasier - Client

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