Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | 9:30 – 10:20am, MJIS 1001

Students registered for the seminar are expected to attend in-person.

Teams Meeting ID: 211 123 896 292 8 Passcode: Uh9qs2pf

“Complex in vitro systems to study neurovascular function in health and disease”

Roger D. Kamm

Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Departments of Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

Abstract: With our aging population, neurodegenerative diseases are on the rise, far out pacing increases in other common diseases. Recent advances from the pharmaceutical industry have produced new drugs capable of reducing the rate of decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and many more are in the drug development pipeline. This, combined with improved understanding of the factors that influence a variety of neurodegenerative diseases has given rise to increased interest both in the delivery of drugs to the brain, and their effects to alleviate symptoms or prevent disease progression. Innovative in vitro platforms are needed to screen for new therapies and enhance delivery of biologics to the brain. Results will be presented showing one model that captures in vivo morphology and function and that can be used both to measure transport across the blood-brain barrier and the effects in disease models of new therapeutics on vascular or neural function.

Biography: Kamm’s research focuses on problems at the interface of biology and mechanics, formerly in cell and molecular mechanics, and now in engineered living systems. Current interests are in developing models of healthy and diseased organ function using microfluidic technologies, with a focus on vascularization, cancer and neurological disease. Kamm is a member of the National Academies of Medicine and Engineering. He is co-founder of AIM Biotech, a manufacturer of microfluidic systems for 3D culture.

~ BME Host: Tae Yoon Kim ~