This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant awarded to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides funding for the acquisition of a 3D-bioprinting instrument. Efforts at the University of Illinois are seeking to develop the next generation of tissue engineering solutions for critical healthcare needs such as musculoskeletal regeneration, models of cancer, cardiovascular repair, and controlling stem cell behavior. The EnvisionTEC 3D-Bioplotter will provide critical capabilities to fabricate large, geometrically complex, and cell-laden tissue biomaterials that mimic features of native tissues. This bioplotter will be operated as a shared-use bioprinting facility housed within the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) at the University of Illinois and will provide a critical resource to a broad user-base with diverse backgrounds to meet the needs of the tissue engineering community on our campus. The bioplotter will enhance the interdisciplinary training environment at the University of Illinois for trainees to gain the skills and confidence to address emergent challenges at the intersection of the biological, physical, and quantitative sciences. The bioplotter will also be integrated into innovative outreach and education programs at the IGB designed to expose students and the public to the transformative research programs within our institute.
Advances in tissue engineering rely on successful integration of biomaterials, cells, and biologics such as growth factors and small molecules to address significant health care challenges. The EnvisionTEC 3D-Bioplotter acquired through this MRI program will be housed within the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) at the University of Illinois. This bioplotter system will enable transformative developing research efforts aimed at developing novel technologies and fundamental insight regarding biological phenomena required to promote the regeneration of human tissues and organs. The 3D-Bioplotter system will facilitate critical areas of biomaterial research across the University of Illinois community due to its capacity to generate large, geometrically complex, multiphase, and cell-laden tissue constructs. The bioplotter will be used to print diverse libraries of cell-infused hydrogel, ceramic, and polymeric bioinks, as well as composites thereof at the resolution required to mimic features of native tissue and organs in the body. This system provides critical operational capabilities for a biomaterials fabrication user-facility that serves the University of Illinois research community, specifically sterile operation, flexibility for bioink customization, the capacity for clinical-scale print volumes, and integrated feedback control essential for reproducibility. The bioplotter will be localized within the convergence-based research ecosystem at the IGB, which integrates disciplines of biology with technologies and approaches from engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the social sciences. The bioplotter will be managed as an open access facility to serve the needs of researchers from multiple departments and colleges across our campus, making it a central hub for tissue engineering efforts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
