OVCR Working Groups Calendar

Engineering scaffold-free tissue constructs via modular assembly, cell-only bioprinting, in situ cell condensation formation and 4D strategies

Abstract: Many tissues develop and heal through the aggregation of cells into condensations. Scaffold-free tissue engineering seeks to recapitulate this process by leveraging cell self-organization rather than relying on traditional biomaterial scaffolds. Although conventional scaffolds are avoided, biomaterials in alternative forms can play essential enabling roles. In this seminar, I will highlight our recent advances in the biofabrication of functional, condensation-based tissues with progressively increasing architectural and organizational complexity. First, I will present an integrated hydrogel molding platform that precisely modulates cellular behavior within condensations through the incorporation of bioactive factor–loaded biopolymer microparticles. This strategy enables the generation of modular tissue building blocks with diverse geometries—extending beyond simple spheres or sheets—that can be assembled into multi-tissue, organ-scale constructs. I will then describe a bioprinting approach that further expands achievable architectural complexity through the use of cell-only bioinks. Next, I will introduce a new strategy for forming in situ cell condensations without prior in vitro culture, enabling direct implementation within target environments. Finally, I will discuss recent advances in 4D biofabrication technologies that facilitate the creation of high-cell-density, condensation-based constructs capable of programmed shape transformation over time.

Biography: Eben Alsberg holds the Richard and Loan Hill Chair and is a UIC Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Orthopedic Surgery, Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. He is also a Research Health Scientist at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center. His laboratory focuses on engineering functional biologic replacements to repair damaged or diseased tissues in the body, with extensive expertise in tissue engineering, biomaterials design and characterization, spatiotemporally controlled bioactive bioactive signal presentation, 3D/4D bioprinting, biofabrication, regulating stem cell behavior, cell condensations, and therapeutic vasculogenesis/angiogenesis. He has co-authored >170 peer reviewed papers and book chapters, and his work has been recognized with the TERMIS Senior Scientist Award, the Biovalley Young Investigator Award from the TESI, the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, the Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 Award, the Technion Lady Davis Fellowship, a Visiting Professorship at Kyung Hee University, and election as fellow of NAI, TERM, AIMBE, BMES, CRS and IAMBE. His research has been funded by the NIH, DOD, NSF, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Coulter Foundation, the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, and the AO Foundation. Alsberg has ~30 patents issued or pending in the field of tissue engineering. He has given >190 invited lectures around the world and is active in many professional societies.