REU Program Research Area BRIDGE

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Harvard University REU

The REU Biomaterials Research Initiative Dedicated to Gateway Experiences (BRIDGE) focuses on the interplay of materials science and bioengineering via three themes:

  1. Understanding and exploiting bio-inspired nano- and microscale structures
  2. Tunable materials and devices for diagnostics, tissue engineering and drug delivery
  3. Materials and strategies for soft and adaptive robotics

The research activities include studies that combine experiment with theory and/or simulation in the study and design of interfaces between cells and surfaces; tunable structures, gels and networks; drug delivery systems; tissue culture scaffolds; and multi-functional biomaterials such as photonic and electronic biomaterials. Importantly, the topics are chosen to appeal to a wide population of students who are at early stages of their academic development, and who have limited awareness of career paths. Research projects are also designed to be relevant and accessible for military veterans and students with disabilities.

Publications produced as a result of this research:

  1. Bell, Michael A., Isabella Pestovski, William Scott, Kitty Kumar, Mohammad K. Jawed, Derek A. Paley, Carmel Majidi, James C. Weaver, Robert J. Wood, "Echinoderm-inspired Tube Feet for Robust Robot Locomotion and Adhesion," IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(3) 2222-2228 (2018) open url in new window
  2. Cafferty, Brian J., Victoria E. Campbell, Philipp Rothemund, Daniel J. Preston, Alar Ainla, Nicolas Fulleringer, Alina C. Diaz, Alberto E. Fuentes, Dan Sameoto, Jennifer A. Lewis, and George M. Whitesides, "Fabricating 3D structures by combining 2D printing and relaxation of strain," Advanced Materials Technologies 4 (1) 1800299 (2018) open url in new window
  3. Cera L, GM Gonzalez, Q. Liu, S. Choi, CO Chantre, J. Lee, R. Gabardi, MC Choi, K. Shin, Kevin Kit Parker, "A bioinspired and hierarchically structured shape-memory material," Nature Materials 20 242–249 (2021) open url in new window
  4. Eweje, Feyisayo, Herdeline Ann M. Ardoña, John F. Zimmerman, Blakely B. O'Connor, Seungkuk Ahn, Thomas Grevesse, Karla N. Rivera, Dimitrios Bitounis, Philip Demokritou, and Kevin Kit Parker, "Quantifying the effects of engineered nanomaterials on endothelial cell architecture and vascular barrier integrity using a cell pair model," Nanoscale 11 17878-17893 (2019) open url in new window
  5. Ge, Shencheng, Yunzhe Wang, Nicolas J. Deshler, Daniel J. Preston, and George M. Whitesides, "High-Throughput Density Measurement Using Magnetic Levitation," Journal of the American Chemical Society 140 (24) 7510-7518 (2018) open url in new window
  6. Grosskopf, Abigail K., Ryan L. Truby, Hyoungsoo Kim, Antonio Perazzo, Jennifer A. Lewis, and Howard A. Stone, "Viscoplastic Matrix Materials for Embedded 3D Printing," ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 10 23353–23361 (2018) open url in new window
  7. Guo, J., Miguel Suástegui, Kelsey K. Sakimoto, Vanessa M. Moody, Gao Xiao, Daniel G. Nocera, Neel S. Joshi, "Light-driven fine chemical production in yeast biohybrids," Science 362(6416) 813-816 (2018) open url in new window
  8. Kotikian, A., Connor McMahan, Emily C. Davidson, Jalilah M. Muhammad, Robert D. Weeks, Chiara Daraio, and Jennifer A. Lewis, "Untethered Soft Robotic Matter with Passive Control of Shape Morphing and Propulsion," Science Robotics 4(33) eaax7044 (2019) open url in new window
  9. Maoz, Ben M., Anna Herland, Edward A. FitzGerald, Thomas Grevesse, Charles Vidoudez, Alan R. Pacheco, Sean P. Sheehy, Tae-Eun Park, Stephanie Dauth, Robert Mannix, Nikita Budnik, Kevin Shores, Alexander Cho, Janna C. Nawroth, Daniel Segre, Bogdan Budnik, Donald E. Ingber, and Kevin Kit Parker, "A linked organ-on-chip model of the human neurovascular unit reveals the metabolic coupling of endothelial and neuronal cells," Nature Biotechnology 36 865–874 (2018) open url in new window
  10. Maoz, Ben M., Anna Herland, Olivier Y. F. Henry, William D. Leineweber, Moran Yadid, John Doyle, Robert Mannix, Ville J. Kujala, Edward A. FitzGerald, Kevin Kit Parker, Donald E. Ingber, "Organs-on-Chips with combined multi-electrode array and transepithelial electrical resistance measurement capabilities," Lab on a Chip 17 2294-2302 (2017) open url in new window
  11. Mousavi, Maral P.S., M.K.A. El-Rahman, E.K.W. Tan, H.H. Sigurslid, Nooralhuda Arkan, John S. Lane, George Whitesides, and P. Buhlmann, "Ionic Liquid-based Reference Electrodes for Miniaturized Ion Sensors: What Can Go Wrong?," Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 301 127112 (2019) open url in new window
  12. Shields, C. Wyatt IV, Michael A. Evans, Lily Li-Wen Wang, Neil Baugh, Siddharth Iyer, Debra Wu, Zongmin Zhao, Anusha Pusuluri, Anvay Ukidve, Daniel C. Pan, and Samir Mitragotri, "Cellular backpacks for macrophage immunotherapy," Science Advances 6(18) (2020) open url in new window
  13. Tanner, Eden E.L., Christian Wiraja, Christina A. Curreri, Chenjie Xu, Samir Mitragotri, "Stabilization and Topical Skin Delivery of Framework Nucleic Acids using Ionic Liquids," Advanced Therapeutics 3(7) 2000041 (2020) open url in new window
  14. Truby, Ryan L., Michael Wehner, Abigail K. Grosskopf, Daniel M. Vogt, Sebastien G. M. Uzel, Robert J. Wood, and Jennifer A. Lewis, "Soft Somatosensitive Actuators via Embedded 3D Printing," Advanced Materials 30(15) 1706383 (2018) open url in new window
  15. Verma, Mohit S., Michael J. Fink, Gabriel L. Salmon, Nadine Fornelos, Takahiro E. Ohara, Stacy H. Ryu, Hera Vlamakis, Ramnik J. Xavier, Thaddeus S. Stappenbeck, and George M. Whitesides, "A Common Mechanism Links Activities of Butyrate in the Colon," ACS Chemical Biology 13(5) 1291–1298 (2018) open url in new window
  16. Verma, M.S., Maria-Nefeli Tsaloglou, T. Sisley, D. Christodouleas, A. Chen, J. Milette, George M. Whitesides, "Sliding-strip Microfluidic Device Enables ELISA On Paper," Biosensors and Bioelectronics 99 77-84 (2017) open url in new window