QB3-UCSC Graduate Fellowship for Innovators
My research focuses on engineering next-generation culture technologies to overcome fundamental limitations in how complex 3D tissues are grown and maintained in the lab. Conventional incubator-based systems often suffer from evaporation, unstable gas exchange, contamination, and poor nutrient and oxygen diffusion—all of which limit tissue viability, scalability, and reproducibility. Working in the Braingeneers group, co-advised by David Haussler and Mircea Teodorescu, I am developing an automated, incubator-free platform inspired by extracorporeal circulation systems used in intensive care medicine.
The platform creates a sealed, self-regulating microenvironment using passive aqueous gas exchange, continuous microfluidic perfusion, integrated oxygen and pH sensing, and automated feeding. This design supports long-term culture of diverse 3D tissues—from neural and cardiac models to liver, kidney, and tumor systems—under stable, physiologically relevant conditions without reliance on ambient air or manual intervention. Through the QB3-UCSC Graduate Innovators Fellowship, I am expanding the technology to incorporate embedded CMOS microelectrode arrays for real-time electrophysiology, programmable small-molecule delivery for controlled perturbations, and perfusion of vascularized tissues using the out of incubator system. Ultimately, my work aims to establish a scalable, reproducible bioreactor platform that advances research in human biology, disease modeling, drug testing, and translational biotechnology.