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Faculty Detail    
Name TIMOTHY M WICK
Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Co-director, BioMatrix Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Center		  
Campus Address HOEN 101C Zip 4440
Phone  (205) 934-8422
E-mail  tmwick@uab.edu
Other websites BME Web Page
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  School of Engineering Dean's Office  School of Engineering Dean's Office Professor
Center  Cell Adhesion & Matrix Research Center  Cell Adhesion & Matrix Research Center Professor
Center  Center for Biophysical Sciences/Engineering  Center for Biophysical Sciences/Engineering Professor
Center  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease (Org Ret)  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease (Org Ret) Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  Ctr for Exercise Medicine (Org Ret)  Ctr for Exercise Medicine (Org Ret) Professor
Center  Nephrology Research & Training Center  Nephrology Research & Training Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Medical Scientist Training Program 

Biographical Sketch 
Training Postdoctoral Fellow, Departments of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas (1988) Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas (1988) B.S., Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado (1983) Honors and Awards Invited speaker, BioAlabama Technology Conference, “Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine: Promise and Progress and Potential”, Birmingham, AL (2012) UAB Graduate Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentorship (2012) Invited Panelist, “Trends in Biomedical Engineering”, MedTech 2011, Raleigh, NC (2011) Invited Participant, AIMBE Technology Transfer Workshop (2011) Keynote Speaker for the Bioengineering Theme of the “CFD2009: The 7th International Conference on CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries”, Melbourne, Australia (2009) Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)(2005) U.S. Delegation Representative, The Fifth Japan-USA-Singapore-China Conference on Biomechanics, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan (1998)

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering  Fellow  www.aimbe.org 
Biomedical Engineering Society  Member  www.bmes.org 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Orthopaedic and Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Description
I have more than 20 years experience in research, education and collaboration developing innovative strategies to solve health-related problems and improve healthcare technology to benefit society. In my lab, we develop tissue engineered constructs both for replacement of organs damaged by disease or trauma and to use as microphysiological organ systems to accelerate drug development. To date, progress in developing physiologically relevant 3-D tissue constructs for therapy and for use in drug discovery and screening are limited by lack of understanding of how to apply principles of cell and developmental biology to generate differentiated cells and functional 3-D tissues on engineered scaffolds, cryopreservation methods to provide ‘off-the-shelf’ availability of engineered tissues to patients for transplantation and to industry to integrate into drug discovery/validation processes. The goal of the research in our lab is to develop 3-D tissue constructs, bioreactors and bioprocessing technologies to repair or replace diseased or damaged organs and as integrated, interconnected microphysiological systems to assess drug efficacy and toxicity. We use novel biomaterials as scaffolds for cells to proliferate and mature into functional 3D tissue constructs. We develop and validate bioreactors that provide spatially correct delivery of mechanical loading and nutrient transport suitable to manufacture musculoskeletal and cardiovascular tissue constructs under well-defined controllable conditions. We have recently developed a novel perfusion and shear stress bioreactor that enhances nutrient transport, tissue formation and cryoprotectant loading within growing cartilage constructs. Tissue perfusion enhances tissue maturation during growth and increases loading of tissues with cryoprotectant agents during preservation. Our bioreactors are scalable and can be integrated with optical devices and other evaluation platforms to assess drug efficacy, toxicity and metabolism in situ in real time.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Farooque, T.M., Chen, Z.Z., Schwartz, Z, Wick, T.M., Boyan, B.D., Brockbank, K.G.M, Protocol Development for Vitrification of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage. Bioprocessing Journal 8(4): 28-35 (2009).  20622993 
Moyer, H., Y. Wang, T. Farooque, T.M. Wick, K Signh, L. Xie, R. Guldberg, J. Williams, B.D. Boyan and Z. Schwartz, “A New Animal Model for Assessing Cartilage Repair in a Non-articular Cartilage Site”, Tissue Engineering Part A 16(7):2321-30 (2010).  20192719 
Wagner, M.C., J.R. Eckman, and T.M. Wick, “Histamine Increases Sickle Erythrocyte Adherence to Endothelium.” British Journal of Haematology, 132:512-522 (2006).  16412024 
Williams, C. and T.M. Wick, “Endothelial Cell-Smooth Muscle Cell Co-Culture in a Perfusion Bioreactor System”, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 33(7):920-928 (2005).  16060532 
Wagner, M.C., J.R. Eckman and T.M. Wick, “Sickle Cell Adhesion Depends on Hemodynamics and Endothelial Activation”, The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, 144(5):260-267 (2004).  15570244 
Williams, C. and T.M. Wick, “Perfusion Bioreactor for Small Diameter Tissue-Engineered Arteries”, Tissue Engineering 10(5/6):930-941 (2004).   15265311 
Saini, S. and T.M. Wick, “Concentric Cylinder Bioreactor for Production of Tissue Engineered Cartilage: Effect of Seeding Density and Hydrodynamic Loading on Construct Development”, Biotechnology Progress 19:510-521 (2003).  15265300 
Saini, S. and T.M. Wick, “Effect of Low Oxygen Tension on Tissue Engineered Cartilage Construct Development in the Concentric Cylinder Bioreactor”, Tissue Engineering, 10(5/6):825-832 (2004).  15265300 
Walmet, P.A., J.R. Eckman and T.M. Wick, “Inflammatory Mediators Promote Strong Sickle Cell Adherence to Endothelium under Venular Flow Conditions”, American Journal of Hematology, 73(3):215-224 (2003).  12879422 
Brown, M.D., T.M. Wick, and J.R. Eckman, “Activation of Vascular Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule Expression by Sickle Blood Cells”, Pediatric Pathology & Molecular Medicine, 20:47-72 (2001).  12673844 
Williams, K.A., S. Saini and T.M. Wick, “Computational Investigation of Steady-State Momentum and Mass Transfer in a Bioreactor for the Production of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage”, Biotechnology Progress 18:951-963 (2002).  12363345 
Montes, R.A.O., J.R. Eckman, L.L. Hsu, and T.M. Wick, “Abnormal Adherence of Sickle Erythrocytes to Endothelium at Low Shear: The Role of Erythrostasis in Propagating Vaso-Occlusion”, American Journal of Hematology, 70:216-227 (2002).  12111767 
 

Keywords
Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Cartilage, Bone, Blood Vessel, Bioreactor Technology, Osteoarthritis