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Our group has explored the regeneration of soft biological tissues through cell-extracellular matrix interactions, with a focus on collagen-rich environments and fibrosis. We have developed a new scaffold fabrication technology, termed MAgnetic Prototyping in 3D (MAP3D), to nondestructively control zonal collagen orientation by magnetic fields in conjunction with cell and matrix incorporation. We also demonstrated tissue-like properties using molecular packing of collagen to both densify and align fibrils, while also maintaining viable and encapsulated cells and other molecules (e.g. proteogylcans) that are critical to native tissue function. We showed preclinically that recellularized osteochondral scaffolds in vivo demonstrate excellent healing and lateral integration with surrounding tissues. Representative publications include:

Novak T., Seelbinder B., Twitchell C.M., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Neu C.P. (2016). Dissociated and reconstituted cartilage microparticles in densified collagen induce local hMSC differentiation. Advanced Functional Materials 26(30):5427-5436.
Novak T., Seelbinder B., Twitchell C.M., van Donkelaar C.C., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Neu C.P. (2016). Mechanisms and microenvironment investigation of cellularized high density gradient collagen matrices via densification. Advanced Functional Materials 26(16):2617-2628.
Shannon G, Novak T., Mousoulis C., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Neu C.P. (2015). Temperature and concentration dependent fibrillogenesis for improved magnetic alignment of collagen gels. RSC Advances 5:2113-2121.
Novak T., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Neu C.P. (2015). Cell encapsulation in a magnetically aligned collagen-GAG copolymer microenvironment. Acta Biomaterialia 11:274-82.