MICROFABRICATION-ASSISTED ADVANCEMENTS IN NEUROSCIENCE: NEXT GENERATION ADVANCES IN BIOSENSING, NEURAL TISSUE REPAIR, AND SCREENING TECHNOLOGY

Description:
Many open-ended neuroscience-related scientific questions remain unsolved due, in part, to the limited number of analytical tools available to control and manipulate brain cells and tissue with not only high precision, but within physiologically-relevant environments. Over the last few decades, the emergence of microfluidics has facilitated a significant improvement in researchers abilities to investigate complex biological questions in neuroscience. From culturing single neuronal cells to brain-body chips, the advances in microfluidics have significantly advanced the field of neuroscience. Recently, major advancements in our ability to culture, stimulate, and measure from brain cells and tissue have emerged. Microfluidics has enabled sophisticated studies of neural tissue repair, investigations of the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, localized tissue injuries, and has enabled more physiologically-relevant culturing of tissue and cells. In this workshop, we will cover the latest advancements in microfluidic-assisted studies of neural tissue repair, neurodegeneration, brain injury, and we will discuss how to incorporate biosensing, cell sorting, stimulation, and imaging on-chip in neuroscience.