Accelerating regenerative therapies for Minnesotans

May 11, 2026 — Four Department of Biomedical Engineering projects have received funding through Regenerative Medicine Minnesota. 

Supported projects aim to accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies that restore, replace, or regenerate damaged cells, tissues, and organs. As described in the award announcement:

These projects build on Minnesota’s strengths in regenerative medicine while targeting key challenges that must be overcome to bring transformative therapies to patients faster.

Biomedical Engineering faculty Andrew Khalil, Brenda Ogle, Paolo Provenzano, Jonathan Sachs, and John Bischof are leading or co-leading supported projects, which are detailed below. 

Engineering Human Heart Models to Advance Minnesota-Grown Therapeutics and Prevent Radiotherapy-Induced Cardiac Degeneration

Andrew Khalil, Brenda Ogle, and Anna Kellner

Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of modern cancer treatment, using ionizing radiation to destroy tumor cells in over half of all patients. While effective, it can also harm nearby healthy tissue. In thoracic cancers, such as lung, esophageal, and breast, radiation can damage the heart. Despite this well-recognized problem, no therapies exist to prevent or treat this type of injury. This project is developing a ‘heart-on-a-chip’ using human pluripotent (adult-derived) stem cells. This human-based approach, an alternative to traditional animal models, can be used to study how radiation affects the heart and test new therapies. The team includes Humanetics Corporation, a Minnesota-based clinical-stage company, developing pharmaceuticals with a focus on medical countermeasures against radiation exposure, radiation modulators for oncology and inflammatory lung diseases. The long-term goal of this work is to enable safer cancer treatment, and improve quality of life for survivors.

Physically Optimized Immune Cell Therapy for Fibrotic Disease

Paolo Provenzano

Fibrotic diseases, including those affecting the lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and skin, negatively impact millions of people in the United States each year, yet effective therapies remain extremely limited. Across organs, fibrosis arises from chronic injury or inflammation that leads to progressive scarring and tissue stiffening that interferes with normal organ function. Current treatment options are largely palliative, aiming to slow disease progression or manage symptoms rather than address the underlying mechanisms driving dysfunction. Here, the team proposes to develop and test a novel immune-based therapy using therapeutic T immune cells that are dually engineered to better navigate dense fibrotic tissue and target cells responsible for producing it.The goal is to develop more effective treatments for a wide range of fibrotic diseases.

Phenotypic Biosensors for Testing Cellular Fitness and Disease Risk using Tissue- Specific iPSC Organoids

Jonathan Sachs

A major challenge in regenerative medicine is the ability to predict disease risk, therapeutic outcomes and personalize treatments. The goal of this project is to develop a new platform that uses adult human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to grow miniature human tissues in the lab and pairs them with biosensors that measure how a person’s cells respond to stress, aging, and treatment. This could provide clues about diseases a person may be prone to and help predict their ability to maintain health as they age. The system will first be tested in brain-like models to study risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Ultimately, this work could lead to a “body-on-a-chip” that helps predict disease risk, guide treatment decisions, and advance personalized medicine.

Cryopreservation of Human 3D-engineered Heart Tissue (3D-EHT) for Myocardial Regenerative Therapy

Bhairab Singh, John Bischof, and Brenda Ogle

3D-engineered heart tissue (3D-EHT) has emerged as a promising strategy for repairing the heart after a heart attack. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that transplanting human induced pluripotent (adult) stem cell–derived cardiac tissue can improve cardiac function. However, the absence of an effective cryopreservation protocol remains a major obstacle to developing off-the-shelf, ready-to-use cardiac grafts. In this project, the team aims to establish the first robust and scalable cryopreservation method for 3D-EHTs and to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of rewarmed tissue in a rodent model of cardiac injury.