Juan M. Taboas, PhD

PCIBMR Bioengineered Models Core Co-Director

Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Research Interests

Dr. Taboas’ research seeks to regenerate craniofacial and skeletal tissues. His laboratory focuses on regenerating bone and tissues that interface with bone, such as the pulp of teeth and the cartilages of the growth plate and mandibular condyle. They have developed scaffold biomaterials, drug delivery systems, and live-cell imaging methods to study the biology and regeneration of these tissues. With these tools, they can control stem cell differentiation, tissue formation and endochondral ossification. The work is funded by the NIH and DoD.

Technique Expertise or Resources to share

Hydrogels, Solid Free Form Fabrication (3D printing), Microfluidic Bioreactors, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging of microtissues

Keywords

Bioengineering, bioreactors, bone, cartilage, chondrocytes, chondrogenesis, dentin, extracellular matrix, FRET, growth plate, GTP-binding proteins, mesenchymal stem cells, microfluidics, organ culture techniques, osteogenesis, polymers, signal transduction, stress, mechanical, tissue engineering, tissue scaffolds, tooth pulp