Characterization of Cell Behavior in Biological Matrices

9413241 Tirrell This award to a group of 15 neurobiologist, cell biologists and biomedical engineers will support a training program focused on an important and as yet poorly understood area of biology, the interaction of cells with collagen and other matrices on which they grow. The research and training program will emphasize four aspects of this focus: one addresses the fundamentals of these interactions in both natural and artificial matrices, and the otheps address interactions occurring in connective, neural and vascular tissue. The award will support training of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students through a mix of new and existing courses, rotations and optional internships that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate the needs of students that enter with backgrounds in either engineering or biology. The trainees who emerge from the program are expected to contribute to fundamental biology and to more applied areas such as tissue engineering and the development of biomimetic composite materials. This award is also being supported by the Bioengineering Program within the Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Systems and by the Human Resource Development Program within the Division of Engineering Education and Centers. ***