IRES Track I: US-South Korea Collaborative Training Program on Advances in Medical 3D Printing

The use of cells, growth factors, and peptides for 3D printing of tissues and organs to replace those affected by aging, disease, or injury is growing in an exponential manner. Medical 3D printing is a multidisciplinary field that is faced with several unique technical challenges. One challenge is that the cells and other biological components in the "bioink" must not be damaged between placement of the bioink in the bioprinter and patterning of the bioink by the 3D printer.

Another challenge is that the processing rates associated with conventional 3D printing processes are too slow to create large cell-containing tissue or organ substitutes. This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project involves interactions by US students from diverse backgrounds at North Carolina State University and its US regional partners with the Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea to tackle the “grand challenges” of medical 3D printing.

Through this international collaboration, the US students will develop valuable skills in theoretical chemistry, materials science, physics, and biophysics that will allow them to make important contributions to the medical 3D printing field over the coming years.

The IRES project contains three years of interrelated activities between US students and researchers at the Pohang University of Science and Technology, which will enhance the global research community’s understanding of medical 3D printing technologies. The training and professional development activities associated with this project will enable the students to develop independent research activities involving medical 3D printing technologies.

We envision several positive outcomes from this work, including: (a) the participation by students, including those from underrepresented groups, in medical 3D printing research, and (b) the enhancement of the US medical 3D printing workforce through the training of students in cutting edge medical 3D printing technologies. In addition, we will use support from this project to develop quarterly Science Saturday lectures and hands-on activities by the students, in which outcomes from the project involving medical 3D printing will be disseminated to the wider community at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

The lectures and hands-on activities provided by the students will give them the confidence necessary to pursue public speaking and other dissemination activities related to medical 3D printing.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.