Research Impact is a series that pulls back the curtain of IU Research, showcasing the faculty creating, innovating and advancing knowledge that improves communities and changes lives.
Making new tissues and organs using a person’s own body may seem like science fiction, but in Chia-Ying “James” Lin’s lab at Indiana University Indianapolis, it is a reality.
Lin, a professor of biomedical engineering and informatics, arrived at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering in Indianapolis this fall. He develops innovations for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and his work has significantly improved the current standards for treating musculoskeletal disorders. He is also the inaugural leader of the Convergent Bioscience and Technology Institute.
Question: What is your current research focus?
Answer: My research falls under a broad scope of tissue engineering and regeneration. I focus primarily on utilizing biofabrication techniques — the production of biological materials using cells, proteins and more — to develop different tools to address many needs in health care. For example, we can use the technology to develop devices or implants for tissue augmentation.
We have been using this technology to combine biological tissue with synthetic to make a “scaffold” for musculoskeletal defects, particularly for pediatric patients who are not typically good candidates for very invasive surgical interventions or prosthetic replacement, e.g. an artificial joint.
Q: How does this process work for patients?
A: I am trying to find a way that we can concurrently process biological tissues with synthetic materials. Our engineering approach makes it possible to use your body’s own materials to make your own parts. We are moving from an era of using foreign materials that may be less compatible with your body to a new future that utilizes your own body to heal itself.
Take a long segment tracheal injury in kids, for example. You don’t have the replacement or graft materials for it. But with the technology, we can print or fabricate the hybrid trachea with the patient’s own body as the bioreactor, so you can basically create that construct and put it in their body to help vascularize and maintain the viability of the implant. Then when it’s time to resect the damaged trachea, we can use the fabricated, conditioned implant to replace the damaged trachea and use their own blood supply for it. This creates an array of possibilities for tissue or organ repair, particularly for congenital defects and traumatic injuries.
Q: What is one thing you wish people knew about your field?
A: Although regenerating the whole human body is the holy grail, it is sometimes a misconception that we can jump with that big leap. We want to let people know that it’s not regenerating a whole new you; we just want to rejuvenate or repair some of you with your own healthy components.
Q: What is the focus of the Convergent Bioscience and Technology Institute?
A: CBATI will serve as the true technology exit for a lot of disruptive science or investigation. We will bridge all the research findings happening in our labs and develop the path forward. We want to make sure we are delivering a very consistent quality of technology in a format of therapeutics or devices.
We are aligning the research strengths of IU Indianapolis and the IU School of Medicine and will initially focus on four pillars: developing a new type of orthopedic implant; computation or bioinformatics-aided health care; wearable device technology to better monitor patients in real time to assess the efficacy of the therapeutic or device; and drug delivery/detection technology.
Additionally, because Warsaw, Indiana, is the world capital of orthopedics, and we have one of the most prominent musculoskeletal research centers, the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health at the IU School of Medicine, we also want to position ourselves to introduce new materials or new molecules to facilitate the development of a new generation of orthopedic implants.
Finally, we hope to have strong industry partners who will help us develop in vitro diagnostic testing so we can deploy those devices to identify new biomarkers for preventive medicine.
Q: How can partnerships with industry advance your research?
A: By working with industry partners, it is more likely to deliver your technology to the public at a greater scale to help more people. But doing so requires more stringent compliance and control, like in a manufacturing environment, and that is scarce in an academic setup.
Working with industry partners helps you translate the lab technology to the actual bedside, and you have to rely on their experience, resources and direct channels to the end user, whether it be physicians, surgeons, etc. And many times, they also put together educational programs for the general public to understand the importance of introducing that new technology to help with their health care.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: I like getting to know people, brainstorming and coming up with crazy ideas at the beginning of a project and then putting it together to execute. It is a big achievement to take an idea from the very beginning and then go through the whole translational pathway to deliver the actual technology on the clinical side. You can eventually start to see how it can benefit your own family and close friends, and that is exciting.
