Grant: Idea to Innovation

3D bioprinting has advantages in the manufacture of scaffolds for tissue engineering and other biomedical applications due to its rapid-fabrication, high-precision, and customized design capabilities. However, bioink materials required for 3D bioprinting, particularly bioinks that incorporate cells to build cellular scaffolds, have not developed as quickly as 3D bioprinters. The goal of this project is to develop a bioink based on a modular, tailor-made bioactive collagen-like protein (BCP). The protein and bioink will address key hurdles in 3D bioprinting by reducing bioink production costs, facilitating bioink printability and in situ cross-linking capabilities, improving bioink biocompatibility and safety, and broadening the functionality and utility of 3D-printed biomaterials. This project refines the University of Ottawa's patent pending BCP technology, recently developed by our lab. Successful execution of this project will bring researchers and life science companies, including those who may serve as future commercialization partners, one step closer to realizing the significant potential of 3D bioprinting for regenerative medicine applications, and eventually contribute to the development of medical applications themselves. *