Heylman Research Lab

The Heylman Lab is focused on the development of tissue engineering strategies for a variety of applications including:

  • • regeneration / replacement of dead or diseased tissues
  • • high throughput in vitro drug testing
  • • improved understanding of the structure and function of healthy and diseased tissues

Using cells, biological and synthetic materials, nutrients, and growth factors, the Heylman lab synthesizes tissues in vitro.  This work draws on a wide range of disciplines including cell biology, polymer chemistry, materials science, mass transport, fluid mechanics, and microfabrication.

Current Projects

Colorectal Cancer Tumor Model

Colorectal Cancer Tumor Model

Establishing an in vitro three dimensional human colorectal tumor model and assessing model response to pharmaceutical compounds.

Microfluidic Devices for Tissue-on-a-chip Applications

Microfluidic Devices for Tissue-on-a-chip Applications

Design and development of microfluidic devices for use in tissue-on-a-chip applications. Includes device design, COMSOL simulation, mold and chip fabrication, and chip validation.

Injectable 3D Vessel Network

Injectable 3D Vessel Network

Developing an injectable solution of extracellular matrix proteins and human cells capable of forming a three dimensional network of blood vessels to support nutrient transport and waste removal within a tissue grown in vitro.

Current Research Students

Lab Alumni

February 2020

Sydney Vollhardt and Kally Morozin, our Master’s in Regenerative Medicine students, had the opportunity to travel down to San Diego and Los Angeles to tour potential internship sites and network with industry professionals and academic investigators in the cell therapy and regenerative medicine space including CSL Behring, Genentech, Rubedo Life Sciences, ThermoFisher Scientific, T-Cure Bioscience, ViaCyte, Salk Institute, UC San Diego.  As part of their program, they will have the opportunity to work for 9 months at one of these sites to expose them to a career in regenerative medicine. 

Kwee E, Saidel G, Powell K, Heylman CM, Boehm, C, Muschler, G. “Quantifying Proliferative and Surface Marker Heterogeneity in Colony Founding Connective Tissue Progenitors and Their Progeny Using Time‐Lapse Microscopy” Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 2019 Feb; 13(2):203-216. 
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/term.2782)
 
Fong AH, Romero-Lopez M, Heylman CM, Keating M, Tran D, Sobrino A, Tran AQ, Pham HH, Fimbres C, Gershon PD, Botvinick EL, George SC, Hughes CCW. “Three-dimensional adult cardiac extracellular matrix promotes maturation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes” Tissue Engineering Part A, 2016; 22(15-16):1016-1025. (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ten.tea.2016.0027)
 
Szymanska AF, Heylman CM, Datta R, Gratton E, Nenadic Z. “Automated detection and analysis of depolarization events in human cardiomyocytes using MaDEC” Computers in Biology and Medicine, 2016; 75:109-117. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010482516301287)
 
Datta R, Heylman CM, George SC, Gratton E. “Label-free imaging of metabolism and oxidative stress in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes” Biomedical Optics Express, 2016; 7(5):1690-1701.
(https://www.osapublishing.org/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-7-5-1690)
 
Heylman CM, Datta R, Sobrino A, George SC, Gratton E. “Supervised machine learning for classification of the electrophysiological effects of chronotropic drugs on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes” PLoS ONE, 2015; 10(12): e01445722015.
(http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144572)
 
Heylman CM, Sobrino A, Shirure VS, Hughes CCW, and George SC. “A strategy for integrating essential 3D microphysiological systems of human organs for realistic anti-cancer drug screening” Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2014; 239(9):1240-54. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1535370214525295)
 
Heylman CM, Santoso S, Krebs MD, Saidel GM, Alsberg E, Muschler GF. “Modeling and Experimental Methods to Predict Optimal Oxygen Distribution for Tissue Regeneration in Large Bone Defects” Medical and Biological Engineering & Computing, 2014; 52(4):321-30. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11517-013-1133-7)
 
Heylman CM, Boehm CA, Caralla T, Patterson TE, Muschler GF. “Slowing the Onset of Hypoxia Increases Colony Forming Efficiency of Human Connective Tissue Progenitor Cells In Vitro” Journal of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, 2013; 2. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3872071/)

CSUPERB New Investigator Grant

Vascularized Human Tissues on a Chip for High Throughput Drug Screening

Cal Poly Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Grant

Vascularized Human Tissues on a Chip for High Throughput Drug Screening