News

The University of Maryland is taking the lead in a new effort to 3D-print human body parts.

The university announced Tuesday that its bioengineering department will head up the NIH-backed Center for Engineering Complex Tissues.

Rice University and Wake Forest are also partners on the center, which is funded with a $6.25 million NIH grant.

The center will look to advance bioprinting, a process to create cell patterns using 3D printing. The application shows promise to create tissue and organs that can be used in transplants. (We’ve long followed a company in Philadelphia that is working in the space, BioBots.)

“By bringing together experts in bioengineering, biomaterials, and additive manufacturing, CECT will serve a critical role in fostering the kind of technological advancement that has the potential to transform how bones, tissue, and organs are repaired or replaced,” John P. Fisher, a UMD College Park bioengineering professor who will serve as the director of the center, said in a statement.

Curt Civin, who is director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, is also collaborating.