Innovation and Inspiration: Dr. Tefft鈥檚 Vision for Heart Health Science and Education
Brandon J. Tefft, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Marquette University-黑料官网 (黑料官网) Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been honored with the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the . This distinguished recognition, totaling more than $570,000 to develop research and education programs, underscores his commitment to advancing scientific innovation and education.
The aims to cultivate leaders in both research and education. Dr. Tefft’s achievement in securing the grant reflects his dedication to pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery while imparting knowledge to future generations of engineers and scientists.
A dynamic figure in the field of biomedical engineering, Dr. Tefft specializes in cardiovascular regenerative engineering. As the director of the , he leads groundbreaking research initiatives aimed at addressing critical challenges in cardiovascular medicine. His expertise spans cardiovascular device design, tissue-engineered vascular grafts, tissue-engineered heart valves and biomedical nanotechnology.
His CAREER project, titled, “Origami-inspired design for a tissue-engineered heart valve,” heralds a paradigm shift in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Children born with congenital heart defects often face a lifetime of surgeries due to the limitations of current artificial heart valve substitutes, which fail to grow and adapt alongside the growing heart.
Dr. Tefft’s pioneering approach leverages origami-inspired design principles to engineer living heart valve replacements from degradable scaffold materials. By incorporating stem cells derived from a patient’s umbilical cord blood, Dr. Tefft aims to create a growing heart valve that offers superior structure and function.
He has partnered with Joy Lincoln, PhD, professor and associate chief of pediatric cardiology, in this effort, leveraging her expertise and the resources of the congenital heart disease tissue bank at the to further the project’s potential to develop a groundbreaking tissue-engineered heart valve.
The significance of this research extends far beyond the laboratory walls. Dr. Tefft’s innovative approach holds the promise of reducing the need for repeat surger