Serpooshan
for tissue manufacturing & analysis
Lab
video courtesy of Advanced Solutions
About Us
The Serpooshan Team uses a multidisciplinary approach to design and develop micro/nano-scale tissue engineering technologies with the ultimate goal of generating functional tissues and organs. Current projects in my lab include:
1) Bioengineering iPSC-based, functional cardiovascular tissue models, via 3D bioprinting technologies, as in vitro platforms to study human heart development and diseases;
2) Design and manufacturing novel patient-specific cardiac patch systems to regenerate damaged myocardium following ischemic heart injury;
3) 3D bioprinting of functional in vitro models of cortical organoids to study human brain development; and
4) Engineering highly tunable bioprinted models to study pediatric tumor growth, aggression, and response to therapies.
Serpooshan Lab NEWS
OUR LINES OF RESEARCH
Using state-of-the-art 3D bioprinting, perfusion bioreactor, and induced pluripotent stem cell technologies to engineer in vitro models of human heart development and diseases. Studying various cellular and environmental factors underlying congenital heart defects and their therapies.
Synthesis, characterization, and application of various nano/micro-scale biomaterials for diverse biomedical applications in vitro and in vivo. Examples include: magnetic nanoparticles for antibacterial and imaging applications, conductive nanorods to enhance cardiac tissue function, and nanostructured scaffolds.
Meet The Team
Vahid Serpooshan, PhD
Principlal Investigator
Vahid Serpooshan did his BSc and MSc in Materials Science and Engineering at Sharif University (Tehran, Iran, 1998-2003) and his PhD in biomaterials and tissue engineering at McGill University (Montreal, Canada, 2007-2011). His PhD thesis research focused on the design and optimization of scaffolding biomaterials for bone tissue engineering applications. Following his PhD, Dr. Serpooshan worked for 7 years at Stanford University School of Medicine as Postdoctoral Fellow (Pediatric Cardiology) and Instructor (Stanford Cardiovascular Institute). At Stanford, Dr. Serpooshan's training and research were mainly centered on developing a new generation of engineered cardiac patch device to repair damaged heart tissue following myocardial infarction (heart attack). The engineered patch was successfully tested in mouse and pig models and is now in preparation for clinical trials. He also worked on enabling technologies for human-machine hybrid cardiac tissue, using 3D bioprinting to assemble complex arrays of interfaces between synthetic and biological materials. In 2018, Dr. Vahid Serpooshan joined Emory University and Georgia Institute of Tech as Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics, where his multidisciplinary team is now working on a variety of 3D bioprinting-based tissue engineering and disease modeling projects.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
and Pediatrics
Georgia Institute of Technology
Emory University School of Medicine
404.712.9717
Holly Bauser-Heaton is an interventional pediatric cardiologist and physician scientist at Sibley Heart Center at Children’s Healthcare of Altanta. She completed her MD, PhD in 2009 at Indiana University. Dr. Bauser-Heaton focused on signaling mechanisms of nitric oxide in hypoxic conditions and continues to investigate the role of NO in endothelial function. As a clinician, she completed her training at Stanford University and joined faculty of Sibley Heart Center in 2016. Pulmonary artery disease and its management is the focus for Dr. Heaton both in the clinical arena and the lab. She is interested in developing new procedures via transcatheter (in the cardiac catheterization laboratory) technique for individuals with pulmonary artery disease. Additionally, she has interest in utilizing 3D bioprinting to create pulmonary artery constructs that have the ability to keep up with a patient’s somatic growth. She is very excited to join forces with the Serpooshan lab.
Holly Bauser-Heaton, MD PhD
Assistant Professor
Pediatric Cardiologist
Sibley Heart Center, Pediatric Cardiology
Emory University School of Medicine
Martin L. Tomov, PhD
Martin Tomov received his BSc in Biochemistry in Ithaca College in New York (2007) and his PhD in Nanoscale and Materials Bio-Engineering from the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in SUNY Polytechnic Institute (2016). His PhD thesis focused on Nanotechnology and Human Stem Cells: Applications in Cardiogenesis and Neurogenesis. He next moved to Boston in 2016, joining the laboratories of Dr. Lee Rubin (Broad/Harvard) and Dr. Mark Bathe (Broad/MIT) at Harvard-MIT, as Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Tomov’s postdoctoral research was centered on developing and applying the next generation imaging methods towards drug discovery, analysis of complex cultures, and 3D tissue analogs in low and high throughput settings. Martin is joining the Serpooshan Lab in July 2018, where his research is mainly focusing on using human iPSC technology, 3D bioprinting, and perfusion bioreactor technologies to study congenital heart disease.
Assistant Scientist
Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Georgia Institute of Technology
Jemma Hwang, BS, BA
Lead Research Specialist
Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Georgia Institute of Technology
Jemma Hwang received her BS in Bioengineering and BA in German Studies (2019) from the University of Georgia where they began their research endeavors in epigenetics to identify mutants in N. crassa that are defective in facultative heterochromatin. In 2017, they obtained an internship at the Perfusion Systems Lab of Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany to improve existing downstream processes of protein production in industry settings. In the Summer of 2018, they participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) with the Sackler Institute at New York University, studying the electrophysiology and molecular biology of ATP-sensitive potassium channels. After completing their Bachelor’s, they accepted a position at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute to contribute to the ongoing development of vaccines against HIV-1. In December 2022, Jemma joined the Serpooshan-Bauser-Heaton Labs as the Lead Research Specialist. They are using their management experience to support active projects within the lab, while also leading the synthesis of gelatin methacrylate (GelMA).
Katherine Pham Do, MS
Research Specialist
Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Georgia Institute of Technology
Katherine Do received her B.S. degree (2017) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas where her undergraduate research focused on the identification of a genus of bacteria with the capabilities to degrade crude oil. After completing her Bachelor’s, she obtained her M.S. degree (2019) in Biomedical Sciences from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in the lab of Dr. Rodrigo Morales working on projects concerning neurodegenerative diseases. Her M.S. thesis topic was the optimization of the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique for high-throughput format and utilizing this technique to screen a selection of small molecules for the ability to inhibit the in vitro prion misfolding process. Katherine joined the Serpooshan lab in June 2019 as a Research Lab Specialist, and her research involves working with Dr. Bauser-Heaton to create 3D bioprinted models for congenital heart diseases to study the fluid dynamics and cellular growth of these models
Mostafa Abdalla, BSc
Research Specialist
Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mostafa Abdalla received his BSc in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2018-2022) with a minor in Biomedical Engineering. His undergrad focus was in Biomaterials, where his lab work focused on biomaterial synthesis and biomaterial applications, including drug delivery mechanisms, bone scaffolds, and artificial skin tissue. Before graduation, Mostafa worked on a project for an artificial ACL ligament prosthetic material system. Mostafa interned for TradeHelm, a software development company, Enactus (a student-run organization), and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Mostafa joined the Serpooshan Lab in January 2023 as a Research Specialist.
Graduate Students
Carmen J. Gil
PhD Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Linqi Jin
PhD Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Boeun Hwang
PhD Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Zahra_Alghoul
MS Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Melissa Cadena
PhD Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Maher Saadeh
PhD Student
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University and
Georgia Institute of Technology
Undergraduate Students
Anjum Alam
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Faiza Syed
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Jayce Schwartz
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Caroline Harpole
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Amritaa Basu
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Wyatt DeBord
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Lab Alumni
Liqun Ning, PhD
Now: Assistant Professor @ Ohio State U.
Zinah Ghazi
Research Specialist
Now: Keller Williams Realty
Stefano Zanella
BME MS Student
Now: Medtronic
Andrea Theus
Research Specialist
Now: Assoc Engineer at BD
Rosemary Tran
Undergraduate Researcher
Emory University
Alex Cetnar
BME MS Student
Now: R&D Eng II @ Medtronic
Linqi Jin
BME MS Program
Now: BME PhD Student @ Serpooshan Lab
Gabriella Kabboul
Undergraduate Researcher
Now: PhD Student @ Levit Lab
Joy E. Nish
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Riya Mehta
Undergraduate Researcher
Emory University
Davis White
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Corinna Shimalla
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Victor Putaturo
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Federico Prokopczuk
SURE Program 2018
California State University, Northridge
Hannah Komanapalli
SURE Program 2018
Purdue University
Huyun Chen
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Kevin M. McCoy
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Rommi Kashlan
High School Intern
Now @: BME Undergrad at Georgia Tech
Rebecca R. Xu
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Bryanna J. Lima
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Rithvik Sarasani
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Allison Wombwell
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
Agastya Vaidya
Undergraduate Researcher
Emory University
Alpravinta Alagesan
Undergraduate Researcher
Georgia Institute of Technology
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
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J.B. Hu, M.L. Tomov, J.W. Buikema, C. Chen, M. Mahmoudi, S.M. Wu, and. . Applied Physics Reviews , 2018 ( APR Featured Article).
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N.F. Huang,, V.B. Morris, N. Sayed, G. Pardon, O.J. Abilez, K.H. Nakayama, B.L. Pruitt, S.M. Wu, Y. Yoon, J. Zhang, and J.C. Wu. Nature Communications Biology , 2018.
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E. Dzilic, O. Chirikian, A. Shieh, A. Ribeiro, R.G. Goodyer,, G. Li, A. Kumar, M. Dressen, H. Lahm, S. Doppler, R. Lange, M. Krane, and S.M. Wu. European Heart Journal 39, 6220, 2018.
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V. Serpooshan, S. Sheibani, P. Pushparaj, M. Wojcik, A.Y. Jang, M.R. Santoso, J.H. Jang, H. Huang, R. Safavi-Sohi, N. Haghjoo, H. Nejadnik, H. Aghaverdi, H. Vali, J.M. Kinsella, J. Presley, K. Xu, P.C. Yang, and M. Mahmoudi. Effect of cell sex on uptake of nanoparticles: The overlooked factor at the nanobio interface. ACS Nano 12, 2253-66, 2018.
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A. Sharma, Y. Zhang, J.W. Buikema, V. Serpooshan, O. Chirikian, N Kosaric, J.M. Churko, E. Dzilic, A. Shieh, P.W. Burridge, J.C. Wu, S.M. Wu. Stage-specific Effects of Bioactive Lipids on Human iPSC Cardiac Differentiation and Cardiomyocyte Proliferation. Scientific reports 8, 6618, 2018.
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E. Dzilic, O. Chirikian, A. Shieh, A. Ribeiro, R.G. Goodyer, V. Serpooshan, G Li, A. Kumar, M. Dressen, H. Lahm, S. Doppler, R. Lange, M. Krane, S.M. Wu. MYL2 reporter line allows purification of ventricular human iPSC induced cardiomyocytes. European Heart Journal 39, ehy566. P6220.
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V. Serpooshan, J.B. Hu, O. Chirikian, D.A. Hu, M. Mahmoudi, S.M. Wu. 4D Printing of Actuating Cardiac Tissue. 3D Printing Applications in Cardiovascular Medicine, 153-162.
- S. Lee, V. Serpooshan, ..., J.C. Wu, S.M. Wu, and F. Yang. Contractile force generation by 3D hiPSC-derived cardiac tissues is enhanced by rapid establishment of cellular interconnection in matrix with muscle-mimicking stiffness. Biomaterials 131, 111-120, 2017.
CONTACT US
Emory (primary) address:
Lab 260
Emory Children's Center
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA 30322
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Georgia Tech address:
313 Ferst Dr NW
Georgia Inst. of Tech.
Atlanta, GA 30332
vahid.serpooshan@bme.gatech.edu
Office: 404-712-9717
