BIO/BME Faculty Search Seminar; Dr. Jereon Eyckmans

Title: "Decoding Tissue Repair to Encode Regeneration"

Abstract: Impaired tissue repair and fibrosis are central drivers of human disease, contributing to the majority of deaths worldwide. These challenges are further exacerbated by aging, which profoundly alters the body’s ability to restore tissue structure and function following injury. Rather than regenerating functional tissue, repair often results in disorganized, fibrotic outcomes, reflecting an incomplete understanding of the underlying mechanisms. In this seminar, I will show how we use bioengineered model systems to decode the principles of tissue repair. By recreating controlled microenvironments, we investigate how cells assemble and remodel provisional extracellular matrices, and how mechanical interactions between cells and their surrounding matrix guide the emergence of tissue structure. I will then discuss how these insights can be translated into strategies to encode regeneration in vivo. By designing instructive environments that direct matrix assembly and organization, we aim to shift healing responses away from fibrosis and toward functional tissue regeneration.