Hartwell Fellowship - Adam Jakus

As a Hartwell Foundation Biomedical Research Fellow, I will conduct research under the direction of Professor Ramille Shah in her Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (TEAM) Laboratory towards developing new, regenerative, 3D-printable bone, cartilage, muscle, and nerve (BCMN) specific biomaterials ideal for pediatric use. These represent a new class of biomaterials which can be rapidly 3D-printed into solid, regenerative, ready-to-use, patient-specific constructs from liquid-based “3D inks.” The BCMN 3D inks and resulting structures will address the medical deficiencies of current materials and promote the growth of natural, functional tissues that grow with the child. During my time as a graduate student in the Shah TEAM lab beginning in 2010, I developed entirely new 3D-printable materials, 3D inks, and 3D-printing techniques, all of which are highly scalable, cost-effective, and can be readily applied to materials as diverse as planetary soils and biological tissues, including BCMN tissues. My post-doctoral training began in December 2014. As a Hartwell Fellow, I will meet with Dr. Shah regularly to discuss my research and publications, grant applications, business startup planning, career plans, and the current state of the lab. This research will lay the foundation for the establishment of designated, 3D-Printing Medical Centers (3DP-MCs) at hospitals and associated facilities in the United States, which will be responsible for 3D-printing 3D inks, such as the BCMN inks to be developed in the proposed research, into regenerative constructs, as needed, for pediatric use.