ORIE Colloquium John F. Zimmerman (Cornell)

Title: Tissue Engineered Microphysiological Systems As Models of Heart Disease Heart disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide, driving a massive effort to develop new treatments. However, the drug development pipeline faces a staggering 90% failure rate once new therapeutics reach human clinical trials. A major bottleneck in this process is the industry's reliance on animal testing, which frequently fails to predict how a human patient will respond to a specific drug. In this talk, we discuss how our lab uses microphysiological systems to address these systemic challenges. By building miniaturized, engineered devices, or "Organs-on-a-chip", we can mimic the mechanical and biological functions of the human heart in a controlled environment. Our approach spans multiple engineering scales, from single-cell "islands" to organized tissues and 3D biofabricated structures. By replacing unpredictable animal models with these high-fidelity, tissue-engineered systems, we aim to provide better data for clinical success. Ultimately, these platforms serve to not only reduce the rate of trial failure but also to accelerate the speed at which life-saving treatments reach the patients who need them most. Dr. John F. Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. Originally trained as an inorganic chemist, he earned his B.A. from Whitman College in 2007 before completing his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 2016. His doctoral research focused on the mechanisms of silicon nanowire growth and their applications in measuring intracellular forces. Dr. Zimmerman subsequently joined the Disease Biophysics Group at Harvard University, where his research expanded to the intersection of cardiac tissue engineering, fluid dynamics, and machine learning. Throughout his career, John has been recognized as a Chicago Biomedical Consortium Scholar and is the recipient of two NIH T32.