Sunandita Sarker

Current Research

My long-term goal is to pioneer additive manufacturing (AM) and system design strategies that enable entirely new paradigms of multi-scale and multi-functional three-dimensional (3D) systems for broad scientific studies and medical applications. Traditionally, the field of biomedical device manufacturing has centered around clean room-based micro/nano machining processes, originally tailored for the semiconductor and MEMS industries, to build systems at scales that are relevant and advantageous for healthcare applications. However, 3D micro/nanoprinting has the transformative potential to revolutionize the medical industry by enabling the creation of intricate nanostructures and devices tailored for high precision and personalization in healthcare. Particularly, state-of-the-art micro/nanoscale AM techniques, specifically Direct Laser Writing (DLW) —with near 100 nm fidelity—and Vat Photo Polymerization (VPP), provide a unique combination of design flexibility and physiological relevance, spanning architecture, size, biophysical attributes, materials, and functionalities. I lead the Technologies for Healthcare Enhancement via Advanced Manufacturing (THEAM) laboratory to design and manufacture new classes of architecturally sophisticated biomedical devices to unlock solutions to challenges in healthcare industries previously deemed insurmountable. My research goal involves innovating advanced AM strategies and design tools to create precision medical microdevices to not only expand the horizons of microfabrication methods but also deepen our understanding of in vivo mechanobiology, furthering our scientific knowledge in healthcare.

Research Interests

Building off my unique combination of training in advanced manufacturing, mechanobiology, and medical device design, as a professor, I will harness and extend micro/nanoscale AM methods to create precision medical microdevices, i.e., novel sensing, manipulation, and therapeutic tools. A deep understanding of the biochemical and mechanical properties of tissues and organs on a cellular level in situ—deep inside the living body—directly and precisely holds immense promise in both comprehending tissue development and advancing disease diagnosis and treatment [11]–[13]. The microenvironment of cells and specific tissues inside the living body is a dynamic and complex entity that regulates cellular behavior, influencing cell proliferation, disease progression, and implanted device integration. While benchtop models such as 3D cell culture, spheroids and organoids, and organ-on-a-chip, with or without in combination with advanced imaging, have greatly advanced our understanding of cell and tissue microenvironments [14]–[16], there are several limitations stemming from the lack of biological complexity, variability, and dynamic responses. Observing and manipulating the microenvironment in its native state, unaltered by the assumptions of artificial conditions of benchtop models, offer insights directly translatable to human physiology and pathology. However, conventional microfabrication processes, limited by mold-based or subtractive methods, suffer from a number of critical limitations that directly impede the production of devices with complex internal geometry, multi-material interfaces, and multi-functional components that are essential to realize micro/nanotools to extend our knowledge of microenvironments in situ. AM strategies offer unprecedented opportunities to how we design, produce, and utilize products. My research agenda is focused on advancing AM techniques, exploring fabrication methodologies for novel materials including composite metamaterials and biomaterials, pushing the boundaries of 3D micro and nano printing technologies to create high-value, next-generation products transforming precision and personalized healthcare. My research program will not only help harness the cues of the tissue microenvironment for disease diagnosis and treatment but will advance our scientific knowledge of in vivo mechanobiology. My long-term goal is to pave the way for innovative AM techniques and solutions to longstanding challenges previously deemed unresolvable.

Academic Background

• Postdoctoral Training, University of Maryland College Park
• PhD  University of Nebraska Lincoln
• BSs  Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology