2013 BMES Outstanding Contributions

It is my pleasure to present the 2013 BMESOutstanding Contribution papers, that recognizeexcellence in the field of Cellular and Molecular Bio-engineering as presented at the Biomedical EngineeringSociety Annual Meeting. These papers were nominatedby track chairs of the 2013 conference, held September25–28, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. This year’s BMESOutstanding Contribution papers highlight an area ofgrowing interest to the journal: medically- and trans-lationally-relevant applications that also address fun-damental concepts at the molecular and cellular level,such as the microscale manipulation of living samples,the mechanics and mechanobiology of cells and mol-ecules, and the analysis of natural and engineeredmicroenvironments.

Interestingly, there are a number of similaritiesshared between the two BMES Outstanding Contri-bution papers presented in this issue. Both studiesrepresent collaborations between engineers and bio-medical scientists. Both papers describe the develop-ment of new methods for the 3-D culture of humancells for tissue engineering applications. Both studiesrepresent careful understanding of molecular and cel-lular level phenomena, and how to connect theseconcepts to higher, tissue level scales that are relevantto biomedical engineering applications. Finally, bothidentify real world challenges associated with theprocessing of human cell and tissue samples, anddemonstrate innovative strategies on how to effectivelyovercome these challenges.

In the first paper, Yuguo Lei, Daeun Jeong, JifangXiao and David Schaffer describe a scalable, goodmanufacturing practice (GMP) compatible 3D culturesystem for the expansion and differentiation of humanpluripotent stem cells. They characterize a thermore-versible hydrogel that is employed as a 3D scaffold

capable of insulating cells from shear force-inducedcell loss. Cells are produced at high density and areshown to differentiate into the ectoderm, mesodermand endoderm germ layers.

The second BMES Outstanding Contribution papercomes from Darcy Wagner, Spencer Fenn, NicholasBonenfant, Elliot Marks, Zachary Borg, PatrickSaunders, Rachael Oldinski, and Daniel Weiss. Theypresent a new decellularization approach to processhuman lung segments for tissue engineering applica-tions and to study cell-extracellular matrix interac-tions. By photocrosslinking methacrylated alginate,they produce a mechanically stable pleural coating thatcan be used to subject cells to cyclic three-dimensionalstretch.

I hope that you will enjoy these 2013 BMES Out-standing Contributions, and the collection of regulararticles in this issue, including a mini-review articlefrom Mian Long, Muhammad Zaman and colleagueson computational models of stem cell migration. Wewill be featuring more mini-reviews of this form incoming issues, as a way to bring focused, timelyreviews on emerging topics of importance to Cellularand Molecular Bioengineering. Thank you for reading,and I encourage you to keep up with the latest devel-opments in CMBE via our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/CMBEjournal) and through Twitter (www.twitter.com/CMBEjournal).

Michael R. King

Department of Biomedical Engineering,Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USAElectronic mail: mike.king@cornell.edu

Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2014 (� 2014) p. 171

DOI: 10.1007/s12195-014-0335-x

1865-5025/14/0600-0171/0 � 2014 Biomedical Engineering Society

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