Engineering Human Barrier Systems on Chips: From Lung Injury to Neurovascular Dysfunction
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
2:30 PM-4:00 PM
BIOMED Seminar
Title:
Engineering Human Barrier Systems on Chips: From Lung Injury to Neurovascular Dysfunction
Speaker:
Dr. Sezin Aday Aydin, PhD
Program Manager and Research Associate
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania
Details:
Biological barriers and tissue interfaces govern how tissues respond to injury, yet remain difficult to model using conventional preclinical approaches that fail to reflect the complexity of human physiology. As a result, progress in understanding how coordinated cellular processes drive tissue dysfunction and recovery across organ systems remains limited. To address this gap, we engineer human microphysiological platforms that reconstruct tissue architecture and function within controlled settings, enabling precise characterization of injury responses.
To model lung injury, we established vascularized organ-on-a-chip platforms that recapitulate key features of the airway and enable controlled exposure to chlorine in human lung tissue. Within this system, chlorine disrupts epithelial barrier integrity and drives oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress, as well as inflammatory signaling. Multi-omics analyses further uncover pathways that drive tissue damage and intercompartmental crosstalk, while enabling identification of candidate biomarkers. Importantly, responses in this platform show strong concordance with in vivo outcomes, supporting its predictive relevance.
We then extend this framework to the brain by engineering a human neurovascular unit (NVU)-on-a-chip that recapitulates key cellular and vascular features of the brain. When subjected to mechanical strain simulating traumatic brain injury, the model captures loss of vascular integrity, tight junction disruption, and increased cell death, providing a platform for mechanistic insights and biomarker discovery.
Together, these platforms establish a unified, human-relevant approach for studying barrier and interface dysfunction across organ systems. More broadly, this work positions microphysiological systems as predictive tools for uncovering injury mechanisms, identifying therapeutic targets, and accelerating translation to the clinic.
Biosketch:
Sezin Aday Aydin, PhD, is a Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania and a translational bioengineer specializing in human-relevant microphysiological systems for disease modeling, toxicology, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic development. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between preclinical models and human biology by engineering physiologically relevant platforms that capture vascular, immune, and tissue-level complexity.
Dr. Aday Aydin completed her PhD in Bioengineering under the MIT-Portugal Program and pursued advanced research training at leading institutions, including MIT, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She has made significant contributions to human-relevant in vitro systems, including one of the first stable stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models, and to bioinspired extracellular vesicle platforms for vascular regeneration.
She currently leads multidisciplinary efforts in inhalation toxicology, managing a large federally funded program focused on chlorine-induced lung injury using vascularized lung-on-a-chip systems. Her work integrates multi-omics, advanced imaging, and functional assays to uncover injury mechanisms, identify predictive biomarkers, and support the development of targeted countermeasures.
In addition to her research, Dr. Aday Aydin has extensive experience in mentoring, teaching, and scientific leadership, with a strong commitment to translating bioengineering innovations into clinically relevant solutions.
Contact Information
Carolyn Riley
cr63@drexel.edu