Plate-scale hydrogel fabrication Robotic workflows fabricate compliant culture substrates directly in screening plates, keeping soft-material biology compatible with automated imaging. 
Research
Research area · Biofab and biomaterials
Tissue systems
Tissue systems turn materials, geometry, matrix chemistry, confinement, and light into practical engineering tools for biology. The goal is not fabrication as an isolated method; it is building controllable physiological systems that stay compatible with imaging, perturbation, and scale.
Our
Unique vision
This theme contains what the site previously called biomaterials or biofab. HYDRA, VISTA, LigHTS, engineered matrices, hydrogels, confinement, and optical fabrication all belong here because they are ways of building tissue systems whose structure, mechanics, and context can be controlled.
Platforms and capabilities
Biofabricated systems for physiology
Plate-scale hydrogel fabrication Robotic workflows fabricate compliant culture substrates directly in screening plates, keeping soft-material biology compatible with automated imaging. Light-defined matrix patterning Optical fabrication lets the lab tune surface cues, material geometry, and matrix presentation without leaving standard high-throughput formats. Related publications
Articles and preprints in this area
Including collaborations; listed newest to oldest.
Peer-reviewed article Micro-comb 3D printing: rapid fabrication of tissue-guiding substrates using micro-embossed nozzles Sarkhan Butdayev, Stefan Leone, Shayla Nikzad, Janko Kajtez, Katrine Bech Lauritzen, Moises Di Sante, Francesco S Pasqualini, Kirstine Calloe, Rodolphe Marie, Stephan S Keller, Anne Z Eriksen, Johan U Lind Biofabrication · 2026 · DOI 10.1088/1758-5090/ae5fd9 Peer-reviewed article A vertically integrated system for tracking and assessing cell-cycle-aware phenotypes under confinement Melissa Pezzotti, Eloisa Torchia, Julius Zimmermann, Sara Rigolli, Alessandro Enrico, Moises Di Sante, Francesco S. Pasqualini APL Bioengineering · 2026 · DOI 10.1063/5.0306480 Pre-print article LiGHTS: Massively Parallel Biomimetic Photo-Functionalization for Imaging-Based Ultra-High-Throughput Screening Alessandro Enrico, Sara Rigolli, Julius Zimmermann, Melissa Pezzotti, Eloisa Torchia, Moises Di Sante, Ferdinando Auricchio, Francesco S. Pasqualini bioRxiv · 2025 · DOI 10.1101/2025.10.23.683892 Peer-reviewed article Fabrication of cell culture hydrogels by robotic liquid handling automation for high-throughput drug testing Eloisa Torchia, Moises Di Sante, Bohdana Horda, Marko Mihajlovic, Julius Zimmermann, Melissa Pezzotti, Elisa Cimetta, Sylvain Gabriele, Ferdinando Auricchio, Johan Ulrik Lind, Alessandro Enrico, Francesco Silvio Pasqualini Communications Engineering · 2025 · DOI 10.1038/s44172-025-00575-3 Peer-reviewed article Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Structural Assembly and Hydration of Hyaluronic Acid in Salt Aqueous Buffer Vasudevan S, Chattaraj S, Enrico A, Pasqualini FS Langmuir · 2025 · DOI 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c03966 Review Organotypic and Microphysiological Human Tissue Models for Drug Discovery and Development: Current State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives Sonia Youhanna, Aurino M. Kemas, Lena Preiss, Yitian Zhou, Joanne X. Shen, Selgin D. Cakal, Francesco S. Pasqualini, Sravan K. Goparaju, Reza Zandi Shafagh, Johan Ulrik Lind, Carl M. Sellgren, Volker M. Lauschke Pharmacological Reviews · 2022 · DOI 10.1124/pharmrev.120.000238 Book chapter Emerging strategies in 3D printed tissue models for in vitro biomedical research Christian J. Pless, Carmen Radeke, Selgin D. Cakal, Janko Kajtez, Francesco S. Pasqualini, Johan U. Lind Bioprinting · 2022 · DOI 10.1016/b978-0-323-85430-6.00007-8 Peer-reviewed article A Pulsatile Flow System to Engineer Aneurysm and Atherosclerosis Mimetic Extracellular Matrix Hosseini V, Mallone A, Mirkhani N, Noir J, Salek M, Pasqualini FS, Schuerle S, Khademhosseini A, Hoerstrup SP, Vogel V Advanced Science · 2020 · DOI 10.1002/advs.202000173 Peer-reviewed article A tissue-engineered scale model of the heart ventricle Luke A MacQueen, Sean P Sheehy, Christophe O Chantre, John F Zimmerman, Francesco S Pasqualini, Xujie Liu, Josue A Goss, Patrick H Campbell, Grant M Gonzalez, Sung-Jin Park, Andrew K Capulli, John P Ferrier, T Fettah Kosar, L Mahadevan, William T Pu, Kevin Kit Parker Nature Biomedical Engineering · 2018 · DOI 10.1038/s41551-018-0271-5 Peer-reviewed article Traction force microscopy of engineered cardiac tissues Francesco S. Pasqualini, A. Agarwal, O. B. O'Connor, Q. Liu, S. P. Sheehy, K. K. Parker PLOS ONE · 2018 · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0194706 Peer-reviewed article JetValve: Rapid manufacturing of biohybrid scaffolds for biomimetic heart valve replacement Capulli AK, Emmert MY, Pasqualini FS, Kehl D, Caliskan E, Lind JU, Sheehy SP, Park SJ, Ahn S, Weber B, Goss JA, Hoerstrup SP, Parker KK Biomaterials · 2017 · DOI 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.04.033 Peer-reviewed article Instrumented cardiac microphysiological devices via multimaterial three-dimensional printing Johan U Lind, Travis A Busbee, Alexander D Valentine, Francesco S Pasqualini, Hongyan Yuan, Moran Yadid, Sung-Jin Park, Arda Kotikian, Alexander P Nesmith, Patrick H Campbell, Joost J Vlassak, Jennifer A Lewis, Kevin Kit Parker Nature Materials · 2017 · DOI 10.1038/nmat4782 Review Organ Chips: Quality Assurance Systems in Regenerative Medicine Francesco S. Pasqualini, Maximilian Y. Emmert, Kevin K. Parker, Simon P. Hoerstrup Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics · 2016 · DOI 10.1002/cpt.527 Review Mechanotransduction and Metabolism in Cardiomyocyte Microdomains Pasqualini FS, Nesmith AP, Horton RE, Sheehy SP, Parker KK BioMed Research International · 2016 · DOI 10.1155/2016/4081638 Peer-reviewed article A human in vitro model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy muscle formation and contractility Nesmith AP, Wagner MA, Pasqualini FS, O'Connor BB, Pincus MJ, August PR, Parker KK Journal of Cell Biology · 2016 · DOI 10.1083/jcb.201603111 Review Heart Valve Replacements with Regenerative Capacity Dijkman PE, Fioretta ES, Frese L, Pasqualini FS, Hoerstrup SP Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy · 2016 · DOI 10.1159/000448181 Peer-reviewed article Phototactic guidance of a tissue-engineered soft-robotic ray Sung-Jin Park, Mattia Gazzola, Kyung Soo Park, Shirley Park, Valentina Di Santo, Erin L Blevins, Johan U Lind, Patrick H Campbell, Stephanie Dauth, Andrew K Capulli, Francesco S Pasqualini, Seungkuk Ahn, Alexander Cho, Hongyan Yuan, Ben M Maoz, Ragu Vijaykumar, Jeong-Woo Choi, Karl Deisseroth, George V Lauder, L Mahadevan, Kevin Kit Parker Science · 2016 · DOI 10.1126/science.aaf4292 Peer-reviewed article Laminar ventricular myocardium on a microelectrode array-based chip Kujala VJ, Pasqualini FS, Goss JA, Nawroth JC, Parker KK Journal of Materials Chemistry B · 2016 · DOI 10.1039/c6tb00324a Peer-reviewed article Angiotensin II Induced Cardiac Dysfunction on a Chip Horton RE, Yadid M, McCain ML, Sheehy SP, Pasqualini FS, Park SJ, Cho A, Campbell P, Parker KK PLOS ONE · 2016 · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0146415 Peer-reviewed article Matrix elasticity regulates the optimal cardiac myocyte shape for contractility McCain ML, Yuan H, Pasqualini FS, Campbell PH, Parker KK American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology · 2014 · DOI 10.1152/ajpheart.00799.2013 Peer-reviewed article The contractile strength of vascular smooth muscle myocytes is shape dependent Ye GJ, Aratyn-Schaus Y, Nesmith AP, Pasqualini FS, Alford PW, Parker KK Integrative Biology · 2014 · DOI 10.1039/c3ib40230d