David A. Vorp, PhD

Associate Dean for Research

Professor of Bioengineering, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Surgery, Chemical/Petroleum Engineering, Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Director, Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory

123 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261 P: 412-624-5317

vorp@pitt.edu www.engineering.pitt.edu/VorpLab/

Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory Mission

Pathologies of the vascular system are tightly linked to biomechanical alteration of the vessel wall during disease. By applying our strengths in computational and experimental biomechanics, image analysis, cellular and molecular biology, and tissue engineering, our research mission is to develop regenerative treatments for vascular diseases such as aortic aneurysm and coronary heart disease. In addition to our research mission, we aim to train the researchers of tomorrow using the most cutting-edge technology available. Ongoing projects in the lab include: • Assessing the mechanopathobiology of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm • Creating a novel regenerative therapy for abdominal aortic aneurysm • Developing a translatable immunoregulatory tissue engineered vascular graft • Using machine learning/artificial intelligence to improve clinical decision making • Extending our biomechanical analysis to other tubular structures such as the urinary tract, intestine, and esophagus Our best assets for collaboration pertain to the thrusts of vascular biomechanics and vascular tissue engineering and regeneration.

Vascular Biomechanics: Our group performs both experimental and computational biomechanics studies on tubular tissues; recent studies have focused on aneurysms of the aorta (thoracic and abdominal) and cerebral arteries but we also have experience with the ureter, esophagus, and intestine. On the experimental end, we perform extensive mechanical testing of tissues including tensile and compression tests, indentation tests, perfusion tests, and dynamic mechanical tests. Using mechanical properties determined from experimental testing we build strain energy function models of these tissues and computationally analyze the progression of degenerative disease. We also work with imaging collaborators at the School of Medicine to obtain structural information on human blood vessels; the geometries of these tissues have allowed us to computationally model stress distributions and develop rupture potential indices. Vascular Tissue Engineering and Regeneration: (1) Our group is developing an autologous tissue engineered vascular graft (TEVG) utilizing immunoregulatory and pro-regenerative cargo seeded into tubular porous synthetic scaffolds. Utilizing our novel cell seeding device which applies rotation and vacuum to a lumenally infused cargo suspension, we are able to seed our vascular grafts rapidly, evenly, and efficiently. Our TEVGs remain patent during rodent and sheep implantation, remodeling extensively in vivo towards a blood vessel-like architecture. (2) Our group is developing a regenerative therapy for abdominal aortic aneurysm that can be delivered adventitially, i.e. avoiding the intralumenal thrombus barrier common in this disease. This therapy, which is intended to preserve/restore the elastic fiber content of the aortic wall, is being developed in conjunction with the Associate Director of the lab, Dr. Justin Weinbaum.