George Truskey

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Dr George Truskey is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He also directs the department's Translational Research Partnership with the Coulter Foundation.

EDUCATION:
1979 BSE, University of Pennsylvania
1985 PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MEMBERSHIPS:
He is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the American Heart Association and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He has served on review panels for the NIH, NSF, North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the Whitaker Foundation. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the BMES and AIMBE and is currently the President of BMES.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The Truskey Lab Group is interested in cardiovascular engineering, tissue engineering, stem cells, cell mechanics, cell-material interactions and cell adhesion. Currently we are studying the feasibility of coating implantable titanium tubes with endothelial cells prior to in vivo implantation. It is important to coat implants in order to minimize the immune response towards foreign material that is placed in vivo. Additionally, we are studying the mechanics of endothelial cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to better understand the mechanics of these important cardiovascular cells. Cell adhesion is also extremely important as the body has reserves of progenitor cells (namely endothelial progenitor cells, EPCs) to re-endothelialize the lumen when injury occurs.

We are also interested in studying tissue-engineered skeletal muscle constructs and how they may be manipulated to behave more similarly to native human tissue. Current methods of engineering muscle constructs fall significantly short of native tissue when it comes to outputting comparable forces. However, literature has indicated that mechanical and electrical conditioning of these constructs has the potential to mimic native cyclical strain and help the muscle develop and mature. Additionally, a new area of research in microRNAs has rapidly been gaining speed, and several microRNAs have been identified to play roles in the proliferation and differentiation of skeletal myoblasts.

HOME PAGE
http://fds.duke.edu/db/pratt/BME/george.truskey