BME Seminar Series: Dr. Shreyas Rao, The University of Alabama

Shreyas S. Rao, Ph.D., Reichhold-Shumaker Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama

Abstract: 

"Engineering the tumor cell niche using biomaterial scaffolds"

In recent years, engineered microenvironments have been increasingly employed in cancer research to recapitulate the complex in vivo tumor microenvironment with the ultimate goal of creating a system to better understand disease initiation and progression. In particular, biomaterial scaffolds have emerged as a key tool, enabling design of environments that mimic some features of native tissue and thus provide a controllable but more physiologically relevant environment in vitro. In this talk, I will present our recent efforts in engineering biomimetic environments in vitro using biomaterial scaffolds to study the metastatic niche in brain metastatic breast cancer as well as microenvironmental regulation of glioblastoma stem cells. Such systems could enable identification of approaches aimed at re-educating the microenvironment with strong potential to halt cancer progression and improve patient survival outcomes, ultimately leading to a reduction in mortality rates.

Bio: 

Dr. Shreyas S. Rao is a Reichhold-Shumaker Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Alabama. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2012 under the guidance of Prof. Jessica Winter and was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Lonnie Shea at Northwestern University (2013-14) and The University of Michigan (2014-15). He joined the faculty at Alabama in 2015 and established an interdisciplinary research program focused on utilizing engineering tools to unravel the mechanisms associated with the role of microenvironment in cancer progression, therapeutic response and resistance with a particular focus on primary and secondary brain cancers. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award (2018), and was named ‘Emerging Leader in Biological Engineering’ in 2019, by the Journal of Biological Engineering, an official publication of the Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE). He has also received the American Institute of Chemists Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Joseph H. Koffolt Graduate Fellowship, Pelotonia Graduate Research Fellowship, and was invited as a “top student innovator” to the first Procter & Gamble Innovation Camp. Overall, his research has resulted in filing of 3 patent applications, 31 journal publications, one book chapter, and over 50 conference presentations and proceedings.