Physician Investigator (Cl) Massachusetts General Hospital - Internal Medicine Associates, Belmont, Mass General Research Institute

Clinical Affiliate Medicine-McLean Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital

Research Staff General and GI Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

MD University of Miami School of Medicine 1993

bioreactors; hepatocytes; liver failure; liver, artificial; microfluidic analytical techniques; tissue engineering

Dr. Tilles’ research focuses on the application of metabolic and tissue engineering principles to the optimization of biomedical devices which can be integrated with the host and perform as designed.  The goal is to develop a bioartificial liver device in which cultured hepatocytes can maintain long-term, differentiated liver-specific functions.  Methods utilized include preconditioning hepatocytes to optimize functions at the cellular level, as well as microfabrication and cell micropatterning techniques to optimize hepatocyte functions at the tissue level.  His research also involves developing protocols for differentiating embryonic stem cells into a pure population of mature hepatocytes.