CCMB Seminar: Jianping Fu, PhD
Pamer Commons, Forum Hall
ZOOMAbout This Event
"Bioengineering Human Embryo and Organ Models"
Abstract
Early human development remains largely mysterious and challenging to study. In this talk, I will describe our efforts to harness human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and bioengineering approaches to create controllable models of human peri-gastrulation development and early organogenesis. These models recapitulate key in vivo developmental landmarks, including amniotic cavity formation, amniotic ectoderm-epiblast patterning, primordial germ cell specification, embryonic germ layer organization, yolk sac formation, and primitive hematopoiesis. Our current work focuses on using these controllable models as experimental platforms to dissect the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions, tissue patterning, and self-organization during human peri-gastrulation.
I will also discuss our application of bioengineering tools and hPSCs to model critical aspects of early human neural development, including neural patterning in both brain and spinal cord regions, along rostrocaudal and dorsoventral axes. Ongoing projects further aim to model key features of human heart and gut tube development, as well as somitogenesis. Together, these efforts have established a suite of bioengineered human embryo and organ models with in vivo-like spatiotemporal cell differentiation and organization, providing powerful platforms for studying human development, physiology, and disease.
Presenters
Jianping Fu, PhD
Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Cell and Developmental Biology at University of Michigan
Dr. Jianping Fu is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on integrating bioengineering, stem cell biology and developmental biology to advance understanding of human development, physiology, and disease. Dr. Fu and his colleagues have made significant contributions to the emerging field of "Artificial Embryos," which was named one of MIT Technology Review's “10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2018” and “the Method of 2023” by Nature Methods. He is the recipient of several honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, the BMES-CMBE Rising Star Award and Momentum Award, the ACS Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, and numerous research awards from the University of Michigan. Dr. Fu is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineers (IAMBE), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Dr. Fu currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of npj Regenerative Medicine and as an Editorial or Advisory Board Member for Cell Stem Cell, Biophysical Journal, Cell Regeneration, Mechanobiology in Medicine, and Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
Host/Moderator
Minji Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor
