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Researcher to Develop Cryopreservation Technology Using Synthetic Ice Modulators with $1.6M Award

September 15th, 2015 Lisa Kulick
Researcher to Develop Cryopreservation Technology Using Synthetic Ice Modulators with $1.6M Award
Cryopreservation by vitrification of heart valves at -130C: (A) fractured due to excessive thermo-mechanical stresses, and (B) successfully cryopreserved.

Carnegie Mellon University's Yoed Rabin has received a $1.6 million award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop technology for cryopreservation, the preservation of tissues and organs at extremely low temperatures. This research will impact the future of biobanking and transplant medicine.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Yoed Rabin is leading an interdisciplinary team that seeks to protect biomaterials from the harmful effects of ice crystals during cryopreservation, which is devastating to cells, tissues, and organs, to the point that they cannot regain viability and functionality after cryogenic storage. By introducing highly viscous solutions known as cryoprotective agents (CPAs) and rapid cooling, the biological material can be trapped in a glassy like state, in a process known as vitrification. The unique contribution of the current research is in the addition of synthetic ice modulators (SIMs), a special class of compounds which can create favorable conditions to deter the formation and growth of ice crystals. 

"There are more than 123,000 people on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant in the United States, and another name is added every 12 minutes," said Rabin. "Cryopreservation is the only alternative for long-term preservation of high-quality tissues and organs."

Rabin, who directs the Biothermal Technology Laboratory at CMU, is a renowned leader on thermo-mechanical stress and structural damage in cryopreservation. His team combines expertise from the fields of cryobiology, chemistry, physics, thermal engineering and solid mechanics, while working in collaboration with key players in the cryopreservation industry.

This project represents an integrated approach to the study of cryopreservation, explained Rabin, with emphasis on blood vessels as a key building block of complex tissues and organs. "Vitrification techniques for cryopreservation have been investigated for decades," he said. "While cryopreservation research has been traditionally focused on phenomenological studies and diagnostic tools, our research aims at developing modeling and simulation tools to plan and optimize cryopreservation protocols. These developments are informed by experimental investigation on the physical effects of CPA-SIM cocktails with cutting-edge, proprietary instrumentation."

Collaborators include: Mechanical Engineering Professors Jonathan A. Malen and Paul S. Steif; Adjunct Mechanical Engineering Professor and Senior Scientist at Tissue Testing Technologies LLC Michael J. Taylor; and Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at 21st Century Medicine, Inc. Gregory M. Fahy.


More information:
Lisa Kulick
lkulick@andrew.cmu.edu
412-268-5444

Provided by Carnegie Mellon University Mechanical Engineering

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