Finding solutions for complex health problems requires the creativity of experts in a wide range of disciplines. The Division of Engineering in Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) brings together specialists in bioengineering, electrical engineering, computer science, chemistry, molecular and cancer biology, clinical medicine, physics, pharmacology, and nanotechnology to address some of the most challenging issues in medicine. The Division’s roots at BWH feature a long history of improving patient care that has resulted in more than 10 companies and 100 patents.
Today, the Division is focused on several key areas, including Functional and Regenerative Medicine and Project BME-HEAL (Biomedical Engineering for Health – Effective and Affordable for All). Our researchers are using new techniques in science and technology to impact how cells, tissues, and organs function and to optimize the delivery of life saving therapies. Examples include tissue engineering and 3D printing to address organ transplant rejection and shortage of organs available for transplantation; use of stem cells and other cellular therapies to treat autoimmune diseases, cancer, liver and kidney diseases; and the creation of nanoparticles to deliver targeted therapies for cancer and other serious diseases.
Cancer Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interaction Center (CCIC)
The Engineering in Medicine Division at BWH, an innovative Division of Massachusetts General Brigham (MGB) and Harvard Medical School, plans to establish a “Cancer Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interaction Center” (CCIC) with a one-year preparation period. CCIC will focus on studies of the newly discovered cancer-specific organelle (cytocapsulae and cytocapsular tubes ) in a cytocapsular tumor network system (CTNS), as well as many other aspects of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions involved in cancer evolution and immune therapy failure. CCIC will study cancer drug resistance, cancer metastasis, and cancer relapse, and develop new drugs for treatment of solid and liquid cancers.
Accomplishments of our team members include:
- Smartphone-based Semen Analyzer May Help Men Screen for Infertility at Home (Hadi Shafiee, PhD)
- Modeling Genetic Diseases in Mini-kidney Organoids (Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD)
- Growing Artificial Human Micro-livers to Fight Infections (Sangeeta Bhatia, PhD)
- Inspiring Medical Innovations through Nature (Jeffrey Karp, PhD)
- Making Organs from Scratch (Ali Khademhosseini, PhD)
- Revealing Cancer Treatment Effectiveness in Real Time (Ashish A. Kulkarni, PhD)
- Getting Stem Cells to Sites of Disease and Damage (Oren Levy, PhD)
- Catching Cancer Cells in Vulnerable State (Shiladitya Sengupta, PhD)
- Fighting HIV/AIDS: Detecting HIV on Paper Microchip for less than $2 (Hadi Shafiee, PhD)
- Healing Muscle Trauma Using 3-D Bioprinting (Su Ryon Shin, PhD)
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