Michelle Oyen, Director for the Center for Women's Health Engineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University will make a presentation titled "Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Studies in Preterm Birth".

Preterm birth affects approximately ten percent of pregnancies. Bioengineering investigations of pregnancy have great potential to explore fundamental aspects of reproductive physiology that are otherwise difficult to investigate, taking advantage of in vitro and in silico approaches. Biophysical functions relating to the extra-embryonic tissues (fetal membranes and placenta) are critical in establishing and maintaining a successful pregnancy from early implantation to full-term gestation. In this context, the biomechanical properties of uterine tissues, including decidua and endometrium, are measured and considered in the context of development of biomimetic hydrogel matrices. In vivo behavior is modeled in a microfluidics assay of placenta trophoblast cell migration using a hydrogel with a cytokine chemical gradient. Finally, the failure of fetal membranes is reviewed in the context of preterm birth: the “breaking of waters” before full-term gestation is surprisingly common and poorly understood. Possible tissue engineering interventions to prolong pregnancy will be discussed. With the recent worldwide attention given to poor maternal and fetal outcomes, fundamental bioengineering research into the mechanisms of preterm birth is timely and necessary.