Duan Lab

 Bin Duan, PhD - Associate Professor
 Mary & Dick Holland Regenerative Medicine Program
 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine
Phone: 402-559-9637
EMAIL

Research Focus

The research goal of Dr. Duan’s lab (Biomaterials, Biofabrication and Biointerface Lab)is to create multi-scale complexity within engineered tissues to understand the fundamentals of cell-material interactions and mimic the native tissues for biomedical applications with a specific emphasis on tissue disease, tissue regeneration and stem cell bioengineering. 

Dr. Duan’s research involves: 

1. Utilizing biofabrication techniques to fabricate scaffolds with tailored micro- and macroscopic structures for specific tissue regeneration
2. Developing 3D tissue constructs/organoids to investigate the pathogenesis of diseased tissue and examining potential therapeutic remedies
3. Investigating the interaction of stem cells with defined microenvironments and developing materials-based techniques to control stem cell differentiation

Selected Publications (*corresponding author)

1. Wu SH, Kuss M, Qi DJ, Hong J, Wang HJ, Zhang WH, Chen SJ, Ni SL, Duan B*. Development of cryogel-based guidance conduit for peripheral nerve regeneration. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2019, 2: 4864-4871.
2. Wu SH, Zhou R, Zhou F, Streubel PN, Chen SJ, Duan B*.Electrospun thymosin Beta-4 loaded PLGA/PLA nanofiber/ microfiber hybrid yarns for tendon tissue engineering application. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 2020, 106: 110268.
3. Shi W, Hass B, Kuss MA, Zhang HP, Ryu S, Zhang DZ, Li TS, Li YL, Duan B*. Fabrication of versatile dynamic hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2020, 233: 115803.
4. Qi DJ, Shi W, Black AR, Kuss MA, Pang X, He YN, Liu B, Duan B*. Repair and regeneration of small intestine: A review of current engineering approaches. Biomaterials, 2020, 240: 119832.
5. Zhang WH, Shi W, Wu SH, Kuss M, Jiang XP, Untrauer JB, Reid SP, Duan B*. 3D printed composite scaffolds with dual small molecule delivery for mandibular bone regeneration. Biofabrication, 2020, 10.1088/1758-5090/ab906e.

Complete List of Published Work

Patents

1. Duan B, Kuss MA, Hollingsworth MA, Crawford, AJ. 3D printed abdominal viewing window with drug delivery. Pending.
2. Duan B, Kuss MA, Kielian TL, Aldrich A. 3D printed scaffold for preventing recurrence of craniotomy-associated bacterial infection. Pending.

Active Grants

1. American Heart Association, Scientist Development Grant               07/2017-06/2020
   Title: Bio-inspired engineered pediatric valve regulates MSC differentiation and MSC-monocyte interaction
   Role:  PI
2. NIH R01AR073225                                                                                 06/2018-05/2023
   Title: 3D bioprinting of biomimetic constructs for rotator cuff augmentation
   Role:  PI
3. NU System Collaboration Initiatives                                                      07/2019-07/2021
   Title: Engineering optimal 3D bioprinted bone scaffolds for the treatment of craniotomy-associated infection
   Role: MPI
   
4. UNL and UNMC Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Initiative          07/2019-07/2021
   Title: Harnassing Raman spectroscopy with machine learning to analyze human plasma-derived exosomes for coronary artery disease diagnosis and prognosis
   Role:  PI
   

Completed Grants

1. Nebraska Research Initiative Grant                                                      10/2015-10/2017
   University of Nebraska 
   Role: PI                                                                                                         
   
2. Mary & Dick Holland Regenerative Medicine Program Pilot Grant        07/2016-07/2018
   Title: Cartilage Tissue Engineering and Regeneration
   Role:  PI
   
3. UNL and UNMC Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Initiative            07/2016-07/2018
   Title: Engineered metabolically active brown adipose tissue from human iPSC to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes
   Role:  MPI
   
4. Nebraska Stem Cell Research Project Grant                                          10/2017-06/2018
   Title: MSC derived myelinating schwann cell for peripheral nerve regeneration
   Role:  PI
   
5. Cancer and Smoking Disease Research Funds grant (LB506)               07/2018-06/2019
   Title: Validate 3D bioprinted hydrogels to discover hypoxia pathway inhibitors
   Role:  MPI
6. NIH R21 AI140026                                                                                   06/2018-05/2020
   Title: Modeling chikungunya virus infection in a vascularized bone model
   Role:  MPI
   

Current Lab Members:

Mitchell Kuss (Technician)

Mitchell Kuss received his BS degree in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2014. He joined the Duan Lab in 2016 as a Research Engineering Technician. He specializes in 3D printing and 3d bioprinting and is interested in using them for device fabrication and tissue engineering.

Wen Shi (Post Doc)

Dr. Wen Shi received his BS degree in Pharmacy from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2009, and obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2015. His doctoral research was focused on developing novel, biodegradable peptide and polymer conjugates for cancer imaging and drug delivery. He joined Duan Lab in 2018 as a Post Doc and his research interest includes development of hydrogel-based materials for 3D culture, tissue engineering, drug screening and drug delivery.  

Bo Liu (Post Doc)

Dr. Bo Liu received a BS in polymer materials and engineering in 2012 and a M.S in polymer chemistry and physics in 2015 from Hubei University. Then, he moved to Tianjin University where he earned his PhD in materials science in 2019, working on the synthesis and modification polypeptide for cryopreservation. In 2020, Dr. Liu joined Dr. Duan’s Lab at UNMC. He is now interested in fabricating hydrogel and nanoparticles for biological regeneration.

Yunfan Kong (PhD Student)

Yunfan Kong got his BS Degree in Nanjing Agricultural University in 2016 and MS Degree in University of Florida in 2018. Now, heis in University of Nebraska Medical Center for PhD Degree. His research focuses on peripheral nerve injury (PNI) recovery and PNI induced pain alleviation.

Xiping Jiang (PhD Student)

Xiping Jiang is a joint MD-PhD student. If everything goes on well, he will get MD degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and PhD degree from University of Nebraska Medical Center. His research is focusing on the tendon-to-bone interface regeneration.

Wen Xue (Visiting Scholar)

Dr. Wen Xue obtained BS degree from Southwest University, China, in 2014, and PhD from Donghua University, China, in 2019. She was a postdoc at University of Michigan from 2019to 2020. Wen joined Duan lab as a visiting scholar in 2020. Her research lies in the fabrication, modification of biomaterials in drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

Fang Fang (Visiting Physician)

Fang Fang MD is from the First Hospital of China Medical University. She joined Dr. Duan's Lab in 2020. Her research focuses on peripheral nerve regeneration.

Previous Members:

Ying Wang (Visiting Scholar)
Jainaha Srikumar (Summer Student)
Vaishnavi Ganesan (Summer Medical Student)
Dianjun Qi (Visiting Physician)
Wenhai Zhang (Visiting Surgeon)
Blake Hass (Summer Medical Student)
Liang Wei (Visiting Scholar)
Shaohua Wu (Post Doc)
Yini He (Visiting Physician)