Wyss Institute3D Organ Engineering – Wyss Institute

Growing liver tissue on demand directly in the body

Jessica Leff — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:55:10 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — In patients developing end-stage liver disease, the damage has become too severe for the liver’s normally extraordinary regenerative capacity to repair or compensate for it. Once this “point of no return” has been reached, the only option is an organ transplant. However, getting a liver transplant is extremely difficult due to high demand and limited supply…

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20-ish Questions with Christopher Chen

Jessica Leff — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:00:53 +0000

20-ish Questions shows a different side of Wyss Institute faculty, touching on aspects of their personal life, hobbies, interests, as well as their research. This round follows Christopher Chen, M.D., Ph.D., a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute. He is also the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, Biomedical Engineering & Director, Biological Design Center at Boston University.

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Toward engineering a human kidney collecting duct system

Jessica Leff — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:50:56 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — The human kidney filters about a cup of blood every minute, removing waste, excess fluid, and toxins from it, while also regulating blood pressure, balancing important electrolytes, activating Vitamin D, and helping the body produce red blood cells. This broad range of functions is achieved in part via the kidney’s complex organization. In its outer region…

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Wyss Institute-led collaboration awarded by ARPA-H PRINT program to engineer off-the-shelf, universal, transplant-ready graft for liver failure

Jessica Leff — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:55:47 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — The majority of human illnesses are caused by damage to a single organ, like the liver, whose failure accounts for 2M deaths worldwide every year. Orthotopic transplants are the only curative therapy available, but the severe shortage of donor organs, which are reserved for the most severe cases, leaves millions of patients without an accessible solution.

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Wyss Institute Core Faculty member Christopher S. Chen elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Jessica Leff — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 13:28:06 +0000

By Alexandra Jirstrand (BOSTON) — Christopher S. Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and the William F. Warren Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

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The Wyss Institute’s 2025-2026 Validation Projects

Jessica Leff — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:00:53 +0000

Throughout recent years, the Wyss’ Validation Project mechanism has proven to be a highly valuable instrument for selecting and kick-starting projects with early potential for positive impact on healthcare and the environment. Reaching deep into areas with major unmet needs across the diverse Grand Challenges laid out by the Institute, the newly selected projects are driven by multi-talented teams…

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Jennifer Lewis awarded James Prize in Science and Technology Integration

Seth Kroll — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 15:04:37 +0000

By SEAS Communications (CAMBRIDGE) — Jennifer Lewis, Sc.D., Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and co-lead of the Wyss’ 3D Organ Engineering Initiative has been awarded the 2025 James Prize in Science and Technology Integration by the National Academy of Sciences. Lewis is also the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at…

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Innovative tissue engineering: ESCAPE, a pioneering new method explained

Jessica Leff — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 16:00:31 +0000

By Boston University Communications (BOSTON) — When it comes to the human body, form and function work together. The shape and structure of our hands enable us to hold and manipulate things. Tiny air sacs in our lungs called alveoli allow for air exchange and help us breath in and out. And tree-like blood vessels branch throughout our body, delivering oxygen from our head to our toes.

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ESCAPE Bioengineering

Jessica Leff — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 16:00:06 +0000

A research team at the Wyss Institute and Boston University has developed ESCAPE, the first method that enables the engineering of tissues across multiple length scales, ranging from the diameter of a cell to the cm scale of a heart valve. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University…

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Gozde Basara on Engineering Safer Solutions for Cancer Survivors

Jessica Leff — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:22:50 +0000

The Humans of the Wyss (HOW) series features members of the Wyss community discussing their work, the influences that shape them as professionals, and their collaborations at the Wyss Institute and beyond. Gozde Basara has never shied away from learning something new. From starting a Ph.D. in 3D Bioprinting as a mechanical engineer with no advanced knowledge of biology to taking on new artistic…

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