Insight into the Progress of Biomedicine and Stem Cell Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School with Ali Khademhosseini

Prof. Ali Khademhosseini is a professor of biomedical engineering and medicine at Harvard Medical School and a faculty member at the Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Science and Technology and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as an associate faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He also holds positions as a junior principal investigator at Japan’s World Premier International–Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) at Tohoku University. He serves as an eminent scholar at Konkuk University in Korea and is a distinguished adjunct professor at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia.

He received both his BASc (1999) and MASc (2001) degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto. He then joined Dr. Robert Langer’s lab to secure his PhD in bioengineering from MIT (2005). Since then he has been an author on approximately 450 peer-reviewed journal articles and 60 book chapters, filed 20 patent or disclosure applications, and given over 250 invited seminars and keynote lectures. He has also been the editor of multiple books and journal special issues. He has been cited ~25,000 times and has an H-index of 82. He is an associate editor for ACS Nano and is on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Small, RSC Advances, Advanced Healthcare Materials, Biomaterials Science, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Biomacromolecules, Reviews on Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Materials, Journal of Biomaterials Science–Polymer Edition, and Biofabrication. He is the chair of the Bionanotechnology Technical Activities Committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS).

His current research focus is on developing micro- and nanoscale biomaterials to control cellular behavior, with particular emphasis on developing engineered materials and

systems for tissue engineering. He is also developing organ-on-a-chip systems that aim to mimic human response to various chemicals in vitro. His laboratory is developing technologies to control the formation of vascularized tissues with appropriate microarchitectures as well as regulating stem cell differentiation within microengineered systems.

His research work has been exemplary. For his research contributions, Prof. Khademhosseini has been recognized by over 40 major national and international awards. Among other recognitions, he received the CRS Young Investigator Award in 2013. During his early career, he was the proud recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for early career investigators. He has received recognition from all three major engineering discipline societies: electrical (IEEE-EMBS award and IEEE Nanotechnology Award), chemical (Colburn Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers), and mechanical engineering (Y. C. Fung Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers). In 2007, Technology Review named him a TR35 recipient as one of the world’s top young innovators.

Q Please describe the nature of biomaterials being used in your lab. What was the rationale behind development and application of these materials?

A Our lab uses a variety of different biomaterials. One of the major types that we use is a material called hydrogel. Hydrogels are particularly interesting as biomaterials because they are essentially hydrophilic networks of polymers, allowing us to mimic human tissues. We accomplish this by seeding the hydrogels with cells, and then the hydrogels mimic the natural cellular matrix of our tissues and can thus be used to make specialized materials for drug delivery.

Q Where have hydrogels been used in R&D? Have there been any potential commercial applications that have already come out or are in the pipeline as a result of your R&D?

A The types of materials that we’re making can be used for a variety of applications. For example, in tissue engineering, one can use these types of materials to make tissues. In surgery, one can use these hydrogels to make surgical glues and fillers. Also, these kinds of materials can be used for a variety of other cardiovascular applications. We are interested in translating these kinds of materials into real-world applications. We have several translational avenues that we are currently pursuing.

Q What inspired you to stay in Boston as an academic after finishing your PhD?

A I think that the Boston environment is particularly good for science because it has great academic institutions and hospitals, as well as a very entrepreneurial environment. Having done my PhD here, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to join the faculty at Harvard University and stay in the Boston area.

Q Where do you see your research heading in next five years? What are some challenges that you would like to explore?

A We are currently trying to fabricate tissues with improved functions and trying to further improve the technology to use these tissues for a variety of applications. For example, we believe that the tissues that we are making can be used to test drugs and drug delivery systems, which has several important consequences, such as the elimination of animal testing to determine drug efficacy. Some other applications include the use of these tissues in regenerative medicine, where we can eliminate the use of drugs completely by being able to recreate or regenerate the function of the tissue. Also, we’re interested in making materials that will be useful in medical applications, from drug delivery systems to surgical biomaterials.

Q Please mention some of the research that has come out of your lab that has made the most impact on scientific research.

A We’ve published a variety of different papers that we are excited about; for example, we’ve popularized the use of particular types of hydrogels that have now been widely used by many different investigators. We’ve also made gels composed of elastin and gelatin that are light sensitive and can cross-link upon light exposure. In our other types of work, we’ve enabled the fabrication of tissues using modular approaches. The idea here is that we are able to create building blocks of tissues and then assemble them together to generate larger tissue structures using a variety of different processes, such as programmable glues.

We’re also interested in 3D printing, so we have developed approaches where we can use 3D approaches to make tissues that are vascularized, along with other types of innovations.

Q Please mention some of the research topics (not from your lab) that have caught your interest and can have a significant impact in science.

A There are a number of different emerging research areas that will have significant impact. Many of these innovations are at the interface of different disciplines. For example, there is the new gene editing technique based on CRISPR CAS 9, which appears to be exciting for a variety of different biomedical applications; this is something that has really revolutionized the field. There are other advances in cell manipulation techniques, things related to optogenetics, which is an interesting technique that uses light to modify cellular tissues. Additionally, the ability to engineer the genomes of different organisms using synthetic biology is also interesting. All of these research areas merge well with the ability to make materials such as tissues, and so I think these are enabling technologies for our research.

Q Please share your hobbies and interests with readers.

A My job keeps me busy, but I try to spend time with friends and family as much as possible doing a variety of things. For example, I like to travel, and I’m particularly interested in different forms of art.

Q We would appreciate any career advice you can give.

A You have to find what your passion is and become really inspired by what your interests are. Once you figure out what your passion is, then you have to just pursue it and don’t deviate from the path of your passion. Any successful person has to go through many failures and deal with constant challenges, so it’s important to learn to problem solve and overcome challenges.