CAREER: High-Precision Phototoxic Subtractive Engineering of Multicellular Tissues with Immune-Mediated Clearance

NSF Award Search · 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $500,001 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This CAREER project will develop new ways to reshape living tissues for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Nature shapes organs and tissues by selectively removing cells in a process called apoptosis. This project will use spatially patterned light to induce apoptosis selectively to shape tissues. The high-resolution process will selectively remove cells while leaving neighboring cells intact. The team will test this approach in laboratory models of heart and liver tissue made from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). The goals will be to open channels for blood flow, model scar-like lesions, and study how immune cells clean up dying cells to support healing. The project will demonstrate how subtractive tissue engineering integrated with bioprinting can form a robust biomanufacturing platform. The project will create biohybrid fish robot kits and tissue-engineering modules to help students at Georgia schools see how biology and engineering come together in regenerative medicine. Graduate and undergraduate students will serve as mentors. The project will help connect local public schools, Georgia Tech, and Emory University to encourage students to enter the biomedical engineering workforce. This project will utilize the dual inhibition of Serum- and Glucocorticoid-Inducible Kinase 1 (SGK1) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) to create a digital, light-dependent “switch” that toggles cells between survival (light off) and apoptosis (light on). Mechanistic studies will use pooled CRISPR screening and single-cell transcriptomics to map how this switch engages mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and apoptotic signaling networks in engineered epithelial, cardiac, and hepatic tissues. The subtractive platform will be integrated with advanced bioprinting and digital micromirror–based light patterning to shape perfusable vascular channels and disease-relevant micro-lesions with features down to approximately 100 micrometers. Macrophage-med

Key facts

NSF award ID
2540509
Awardee
Emory University (GA)
SAM.gov UEI
S352L5PJLMP8
PI
Sung Jin Park
Primary program
01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Estimated total
$500,001
Funds obligated
$500,001
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
06/01/2026 → 05/31/2031