Developing safe and innovative technologies to support fertility and pregnancy.
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Developing safe and innovative technologies to support fertility and pregnancy.
Wed, 10/10/2018 - 14:30 to 15:30
Location:
Speaker:
Virginia Pensabene
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Synopsis:
My research focus is to create and study innovative solutions to improve in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques and to clarify the effects of toxicity of materials and environmental toxicants on fertility and pregnancy.
IVF and Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) industries are important economic and social players in the UK and worldwide. Following the trend to give birth later in life, the total fertility rate has significantly declined since 2001. Thanks to technological and clinical progress, thousands of IVF cycles are performed each year, but still, more than 25 million EU citizens are affected by infertility. Adverse outcomes of IVF established pregnancies include still birth and preterm birth (60,000 premature babies/year in UK, ~1,400 die in the first years of life).
To advance reproductive technologies, I am working on:
- Microfluidic solutions to support in vitro development of fertilized embryos to improve human implantation rates, by using microfluidic technology and non-invasive sensing. Supported by MRC-NC3Rs, I developed a patented microfluidic device that supports in vitro development of competent mice embryos. This system will soon tested with cryopreserved human embryos donated by local IVF clinics to later move to a pilot phase-1 clinical trial.
- Organ-on-a-chip models that replicate the physiology of the human uterine environment to study embryo implantation and pregnancy. Limits of static in vitro systems and animal models are overcome by an OoC model that reproduces the 28 days menstrual cycle of humans, patient-derived cells, and by reprogramming cells derived from waste material from the abattoir.
For these projects, I am interested in the evaluation of material toxicity and the identification on novel polymers and manufacturing methods to ensure safety and efficiency of these new technologies.
Biography:
I graduated in 2004 in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pisa and I hold a PhD in Humanoid Technologies from the University of Genova and the Italian Institute of Technology in Italy.
In 2008 I was Exchange Researcher at the Department of Life Science Medicine Bioscience of TWIns, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, working on a magnetic ultrathin film for biomedical application.
I was Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville (TN, USA) from 2011 to 2015, where I developed an organ-on-a-chip model of the blood brain barrier and designed an ultrathin film for suturing foetal membranes and for in utero repair of myelomeningocele.
In 2015 I became Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, working with the Women Reproductive Health Research Center at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In the framework of projects funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs, I developed microfluidic models of the human endometrium and of the foetal membranes for reproductive toxicology studies.
In 2003 I co-founded a successful medical start-up (WinMedical, www.winmedical.com) and served as CEO for 2 years.
I am currently a University Academic Fellow with a joint appointment between the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and the School of Medicine.