As a 2024 Schmidt Science Fellow, Peter will engineer high quality clusters of brain tissue that will allow us to better model diseases and test treatments.
Stem cells offer a major research opportunity as they can be grown into brain tissue, but current designs grow to a few millimeters in size before the cells in the middle begin to die. Using nano-3D printing, Peter plans to develop a supporting 3D micro-environment which mimics the human brain to help neural tissue mature and grow into a complex structure.
This would create a unique platform to study brain disease, damage, and treatment methods with high speed and low costs.
Interdisciplinary Pivot: Mechanical engineering to Biological Sciences