Sang Jin Lee, PhD
Sang Jin Lee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Sang Jin Lee was born and raised in Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Hanyang University, Korea in 2003 and took a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratories for Tissue Engineering and Cellular Therapeutics at Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Health Sciences where he is currently a faculty member.
SYNOPSIS OF AREA OF INTEREST: Development and fabrication of biomaterial system for tissue/organ reconstruction; matrix development for cell transplantation; drug/protein delivery system; engineered functional tissues and organs: bone, cartilage, skeletal muscle, blood vessel, tendon-muscle junction, peripheral and central nerve, kidney, and urological hollow tissues; development of enabling technologies for regenerative Medicine
DETAILED AREA OF INTEREST: Biomaterials have played an enormous role in virtually every application in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine that support engineered tissues and organs until repairing the function and structural maintenance. Dr. Lee’s research efforts have focused on the design of three-dimensional biomaterial scaffolding system for clinical translation. Current Dr. Lee’s Research Projects are:
Smart biomaterials: The project is to investigate whether host biologic resources could be activated by controlling environmental conditions using a functionalized biomaterial scaffold to promote and enhance cell adhesion, proliferation, cellular guidance, vascuarization, and host cell mobilization.
Engineered blood vessel: The project is to engineer a consistent and reproducible small diameter blood vessel that can provide anti-thrombogenic properties and compliance matching that of a native vessel, and withstand physiologically relevant vascular conditions for use in cardiovascular applications.
Musculoskeletal tissue reconstruction: The goal of this study is to tissue engineer functional muscle-tendon junctions (MTJs), which is critical for restoring function in severe musculoskeletal injuries and in engineering whole limbs.
Auricular reconstruction: We have developed an engineered cartilage that entirely covers the abrasive MedPor® implant which would prevent implant exposure and extrusion, while maintaining appropriate mechanical properties.
Expanded living skin matrix: We have developed an in vitro tissue expander system that permits a rapid increase in surface dimensions of donor skin while maintaining tissue viability for subsequent skin transplantation.
Injectable and Implantable Engineered Soft Tissue: The project is to develop a clinically useful engineered soft tissue replacement that can be used as a stand alone therapy or integrated with composite tissue regenerative medicine therapy of burns, craniofacial injuries, and extremity injuries.