Lecture Series
Multi-scale Microphysiological Cardiovascular Tissues
Tracy Hookway, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in BME
Binghamton University SUNY
Monday, February 26, 2024
Gateway 1002
12:00pm – 12:50pm
Abstract: In the heart cardiomyocytes exist in a complex environment consisting of many cell types and extracellular matrix molecules. While, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can yield a potentially unlimited source of cardiomyocytes (CM), they alone are insufficient to model cardiac development and disease. To address this, Dr. Hookway’s lab has engineered 3D cardiac tissues to study the complex roles of architectural, soluble, and biophysical cues on CM phenotype and function. In this talk, Dr. Hookway will describe approaches to self-assemble CM into multi-scale tissues that enable the analysis of cellular and tissue-level maturation based on phenotypic and physiologic properties. Using these microphysiological tissue models, specific heterotypic interactions between CM and other cardiac cell populations (fibroblasts, endothelial cells, epicardial cells, macrophages, autonomic neurons) have been identified that modulate physiological performance of cardiac tissues. Finally, Dr. Hookway will discuss approaches to engineer predictive, age-specific in vitro models of human cardiovascular tissues to interrogate the mechanisms that drive morphogenic development and pathophysiology.
Biography: Dr. Hookway is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Binghamton University, SUNY since 2018. Her research interests lie at the cross-section of stem cell and developmental biology, cardiovascular physiology, and tissue engineering. Her laboratory takes cues from development to identify environmental factors that control cellular behavior, and in response to those cues, determines how cells modulate their extracellular surroundings. In 2023 she received an NSF CAREER award for her work on autonomic innervation of cardiac tissues. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the American Heart Association. She has also been recognized for her commitment to teaching and education by receiving the Watson College Distinguished Educator Award in 2023. Before joining Binghamton University, she received her BS from Lehigh University, PhD from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and completed her postdoctoral studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Gladstone Institute for Cardiovascular.
For a zoom link please contact June Norton at jnorton@wpi.edu or Kate Harrison at kharrison@wpi.edu.