Combining engineering principles
& fundamental biology to advance
regenerative medicine
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Areas of Research

Working to engineer non-animal model systems to study human development and disease.
Translational Medicine

Translational Medicine

Vascular Disease, Pulmonary Hypertension, Kidney Disease, Thrombosis
Tissue Engineering

Tissue Engineering

3D Bioprinting, Microfluidics, Stem cells, Organoids, and TEBVs
Cell Biology

Cell Biology

GPCRs, Receptor Trafficking, Molecular Condensates, Phase Separation, Live Cell Imaging
Open-Source Design

Open-Source Design

3D Bioprinters, Biaxial Stretchers, Alignment systems, Myography

Areas of Focus and Education

Building community and inclusivity through open-source engineering design


An Open-source Community
for Bioengineering

Why Open
Source?

Adopting open-source engineering fosters innovation, reduces costs, enhances collaboration, and accelerates development. It provides access to community-driven improvements, greater flexibility, and transparency, promoting a more inclusive and adaptive technology ecosystem.

Building Bioprinters

Using open-source motion control boards running Duet3D or Klipper firmware and off the shelf 3D printer components we are able to lower the barrier to entry for research labs to gain access to additive manufacturing for biomedical applications.

Benefits of Open-source Applications in Bioengineering

10%
Lowering Cost
3X
Fast Iteration
>50
Labs Trained

STEL Research Highlights

Recent publications and highlighted work from our lab

HIGHLIGHTCollagen-based High Resolution Internally Perfusable Scaffolds (CHIPS)

We implemented a multi-material bioprinting approach to control 3D spatial patterning, ECM composition, cellularization, and material properties to create a glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting pancreatic-like CHIPS with VE-cadherin+ vascular-like networks.
Vascular Medicine Institute, labs and Primary Investigators, photographed in the Biomedical Science Tower, August 1, 2023
Daniel Shiwarski, Ph.D.
Principle Investigator

HIGHLIGHTHemoLens as an open-source 3D printed pressure myography system

Vessel myography systems are expensive preventing high throughput screening. We developed a flexible open source myograph to studying the mechanical properties of tissue engineered blood vessels (TEBVs) with integrated imaging system and micropositioning system costing less than $300 (10% the cost of commercial systems).
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Antonio Tavares & Liam Aranda-Michel
Students

Our Funding Partners

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