Shyni Varghese

Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary field that has significant promise for treating compromised tissues and organs. In our laboratory, we use a number of tools including biomaterials, organoids, quantitative modeling, and animal models to gain new fundamental understandings and identify therapeutic targets. In this talk, I will show several examples from our lab illustrating the use of such platforms to address key problems in tissue repair with aging and disease progression. First, I will discuss our efforts in creating synthetic analogs of the extracellular matrix to direct stem cell commitment in vitro and in vivo with a focus on bone tissue repair and employing such platforms to understand molecular mechanisms underlying bone homeostasis and identifying new therapeutic targets (Shih et al., PNAS 111: 990, 2014; 114: 5419 2017; Kang H et al., Biomacromolecules 16: 1050, 2015; Shih et al., Sci. Adv. 5: eaax1387, 2019). Next, I will discuss how these understandings can be leveraged to develop therapeutic interventions to promote tissue repair and mitigate pain (Zeng et al., Adv. Mater. 32, 2020). Finally, I will end the talk by discussing our ongoing efforts in studying the effect of aging on pathogenesis.  

Shyni Varghese, Ph.D., is the Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor and inaugural MEDx Investigator at Duke University. She is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, and Orthopaedics Surgery. She is also the founder of Osteocure Therapeutics Inc. and a Fellow of the AIMBE and the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is currently serving as an Associate Editor of Biomaterials Science (an RSC journal). Dr. Varghese’s research covers a broad range of topics including stem cells, biomaterials, microphysiological systems, and regenerative medicine. Her research activities have resulted in over 120 publications and over a dozen patent disclosures. Examples of ongoing research activities in her laboratory involve developing technologies to improve cell-based therapies, activating endogenous stem cells to combat age associated changes, and organ-on-a-chip platforms. She is the co-founder of Osteocure Therapeutics. 

• Time: 11:00 AM
• Location: 206 Furnas Hall