Woojin Han, Ph.D., from the Georgia Institute of Technology, is a candidate for a faculty position in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, part of the cluster hiring initiative in the BioInspired Institute.

Abstract: Function and regenerative potential of skeletal muscle decline with trauma, aging, and diseases, where the loss of muscle quality is attributed to reduced muscle stem (satellite) cell number and function. Inadequate regeneration of muscle in these conditions leads to debilitating consequences, including long-term disabilities and reduced quality of life. Although transplantation of muscle satellite cells is emerging as a promising strategy to enhance muscle regeneration, direct intramuscular injection of cells is limited by sub-optimal survival, retention, and engraftment. In this seminar, I will discuss approaches to systematically engineer a synthetic cell-instructive matrix that promotes primary muscle stem cell function, including survival, proliferation, migration, and differentiation, as well as strategies to efficiently transplant muscle stem cells for treating traumatically injured limb muscles and dystrophic diaphragms.