Nina Tandon

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Nina Tandon
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Tandon ain 2014
Born
Nina Marie Tandon
Education
Occupations
TitleCEO of EpiBone

Nina Marie Tandon [1] is an American biomedical engineer. She is the CEO and co-founder of EpiBone. [2] She is an adjunct professor of Electrical Engineering at Cooper Union [3] [4] [5] [6] and is a senior fellow at the Lab for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia. [7] She was a 2011 TED Fellow [8] and a 2012 senior TED Fellow. [5]

Contents

Personal life

Nina Tandon grew up on Roosevelt Island in New York City.[10] She had one brother and two sisters.[11] As a child, Tandon discovered an interest in science when she discovered her siblings suffered from eye conditions. She and her siblings were each encouraged to try various science experiments; Tandon's siblings also pursued careers in scientific fields. [9] [12] As a child, she enjoyed "taking apart TVs and building these giant Tinkertoy towers, playing with static electricity, and experimenting on [her] class for science fairs."[10] She participated in puzzles and problem-solving, community theatre, poetry, and sewing.[13]

In addition to English, Nina Tandon has studied French and Hindi and is able to speak Italian.[24] She has participated in marathons.[20][10] In 2010, she co-taught a science camp in Lynn, Massachusetts for underprivileged children.[25]She also enjoys metal-smithing and being a yoga instructor.

Education

Nina Tandon attended college at Cooper Union, graduating with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering in 2001.[4] While completing her undergraduate education, she built an electronic musical instrument which is played through human bodies' electromagnetic waves.[1] From 2003 to 2004, Tandon attended University of Rome Tor Vergata, having received a Fulbright scholarship.[4] There, she worked on the development of LibraNose, analyzing "patient breath samples to determine the feasibility of a noninvasive cancer-smelling device."[11] In 2006, she graduated from MIT with a MS in Electrical Engineering,[4] having received a MIT Presidential Fellowship in 2004.[11] In 2006, she started graduate work at the Boston School, she quickly changed to follow her mentor, Professor Gordana Vunjak- Novakovice. [10] She then studied at Columbia University, graduating in 2009 with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, with a concentration in Cardiac Tissue Engineering.[4][10] Tandon stated that her career path was inspired by relatives and was a process. [10] At Columbia, she began creating human tissues.[14] She also received an MBA from Columbia in 2012. [11] [15] She said that she wanted to bridge the gap between the possibilities of her research, and actually making them happen, and this is made possible with a business degree. [12]

Career

As a biomedical engineer, Tandon worked at Columbia University to force growth and stimulation of cells, using electrical currents. [12] Currently, she has grown cells on rat hearts, to beat, but her ultimate goal is to have the ability to create a process where scientists can grow entire human organs. [12]

EpiBone

The Innovation: She later co-founded EpiBone, and is the company's CEO. [13] EpiBone's other co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Sarindr Bhumiratana had met Nina during their doctoral studies, and by leveraging each other's educational backgrounds, EpiBone is on a mission to perform and use groundbreaking research to transform skeletal repair.

The Problem: Currently, millions of bone graft surgeries are performed in the United States, albeit this procedure is in its primitive stages. The existing solution means doctors must perform a surgery that harvests a piece of bone from the patient and then another surgery that sets the graft in its new home. [14] Not only is this procedure excruciating for the patient, but the risks of infection and graft rejection are a harsh reality.

How EpiBone addresses the paint point: The solution that EpiBone is currently working on would enable a human bone to be customized and grown in a laboratory from a patient's cells. In an interview with Bloomberg, Nina proposes the EpiBone solution for a unique reason: the EpiBone graft would not only fit the patient perfectly, but because it uses real cells, it can continue to remodel and grow with the patient. Nina proposes "a different view of the body, to view as a renewable resource of stem cells that can regenerate new parts as you need them [15] ." The technology at the heart of EpiBone is their proprietary "bioreactor," technology which simulates the intricate conditions and functions of the human body to allow the bone to grow in a way that will increase the chances of cell survival, differentiation, and maturation. The team then recreates the bone needed; this is what they call the 'scaffold,' the last step in the process is the infusion of human bone cells into the scaffold. Within three weeks, the bone graft is ready to be implanted into the patient. [16] Nina's invention is crucial because it proposes not only a less risky solution but one that will transform the field of regenerative medicine, which has largely been focused on tissue regeneration.

Where is EpiBone today? EpiBone received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2023 to begin testing its lab-grown bones in humans. [17] This is a significant step forward, as EpiBone will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of its innovation and get real-life feedback from medical professionals and the patient. This is EpiBone's second product to advance into clinical trials. Its first clinical trial is ending, where they used the patient's stem cells to grow bone grafts.

Interests

Aside from her scientific research, Tandon has many other hobbies and interests such as metalworking, running marathons, and yoga. [12] She started her career when she was hired by a telecommunications company, where she ended up doing customer service. [12] Tandon worked at Avaya Labs, developing communications software[5][16] before specializing in biomedical engineering. Her medical career was inspired by her siblings; her brother has an eye disease and struggles to see clearly, and both sisters have issues with seeing colors, thus changing our perceptions of the outside world. [18] Her career was also inspired by her mother, who encouraged science from a very young age. [19]

Tandon is also a TED Senior fellow, speaking there several times. [20] Nina has long advocated for using biology as a tool to innovate, not just for scientists but for all. In one of her TED talks, she emphasizes that biology must be a consideration for all professions, whether you are passionate about art, sustainability, architecture, or clothing. Biology can be a technology partner for all and must be "taken off its miraculous pedestal and ask how it might be possible to utilize it in our work. [21] "

She has taught courses as an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at Cooper Union. Previously, she worked as an associate postdoctoral researcher for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering Laboratory at Columbia University, where she attended school as well. [20]

Honors and awards

In 2011, she was named a TED Fellow.[19] The following year, she was named a senior TED Fellow[13] and one of Fast Company's Most Creative People of 2012.[20][21] Tandon was a recipient of Marie Claire's Women on Top Awards in 2013.[18] She was also named a Wired innovation fellow[22] and a 2015 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy .[5] L'Oréal Paris named her as one of its Women of Worth in the science and innovation category[18] and Crains New York named her as part of its 40 Under 40 Class of 2015.[23] She also has three patents. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biomedical engineering</span> Application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology

Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications. BME is also traditionally logical sciences to advance health care treatment, including diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. Also included under the scope of a biomedical engineer is the management of current medical equipment in hospitals while adhering to relevant industry standards. This involves procurement, routine testing, preventive maintenance, and making equipment recommendations, a role also known as a Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) or as a clinical engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tissue engineering</span> Biomedical engineering discipline

Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biological tissues. Tissue engineering often involves the use of cells placed on tissue scaffolds in the formation of new viable tissue for a medical purpose, but is not limited to applications involving cells and tissue scaffolds. While it was once categorized as a sub-field of biomaterials, having grown in scope and importance, it can be considered as a field of its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regenerative medicine</span> Field of medicine involved in regenerating tissues

Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body's own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.

Neural engineering is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, or enhance neural systems. Neural engineers are uniquely qualified to solve design problems at the interface of living neural tissue and non-living constructs.

Peter W. Zandstra, is a Canadian scientist who is the Director of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Atala</span> American bioengineer and urologist

Anthony Atala is an American bioengineer, urologist, and pediatric surgeon. He is the W.H. Boyce professor of urology, the founding director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina. His work focuses on the science of regenerative medicine: "a practice that aims to refurbish diseased or damaged tissue using the body's own healthy cells".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangeeta Bhatia</span> American nanotechnologist

Sangeeta N. Bhatia is an American biological engineer and the John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor at MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Bhatia's research investigates applications of micro- and nano-technology for tissue repair and regeneration. She applies ideas from computer technology and engineering to the design of miniaturized biomedical tools for the study and treatment of diseases, in particular liver disease, hepatitis, malaria and cancer.

Kristi S. Anseth is the Tisone Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, an Associate Professor of Surgery, and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her main research interests are the design of synthetic biomaterials using hydrogels, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic</span> Serbian American engineer

Gordana Vunjak-NovakovicFRSC is a Serbian American biomedical engineer and university professor. She is a University Professor at Columbia University, as well as the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Sciences. She also heads the laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia University. She is part of the faculty at the Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Human Development, both found at Columbia University. She is also an honorary professor at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy at the University of Belgrade, an honorary professor at the University of Novi Sad, and an adjunct professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University.

EpiBone is a biomedical engineering company that is developing technology to create bone tissue from a patient's mesenchymal stem cells in vitro for use in bone grafts. The company was founded by Nina Tandon and Sarindr “Ik” Bhumiratana.

Treena Livingston Arinzeh is an American biomedical engineer and academic.

Irene Rena Bizios is an American bioengineer. She is the Peter Flawn Professor at University of Texas at San Antonio and the Lutcher Brown Chair Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Bizios is an Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Her current interests are cellular and tissue engineering, biocompability and tissue-biomaterial relationships.

Sridevi Sarma is an American biomedical and electrical engineer known for her work in applying control theory to improve therapies for neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. She is vice dean for graduate education of the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Computational Medicine, and an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Laura Elizabeth Niklason is a physician, professor and internationally recognized researcher in vascular and lung tissue engineering. She is the Nicholas M. Greene Professor of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering at Yale University and co-founder, chief executive officer and president of Humacyte, a regenerative medicine company developing bioengineered human tissues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine P. Hendon</span> American electrical engineer and computer scientist

Christine P. Hendon is an electrical engineer and computer scientist and an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University in New York City. Hendon is a pioneer in medical imaging. She develops biomedical optics technologies, using optical coherence tomography and near infrared spectroscopy systems, that enable physicians to perform guided interventional procedures and allow for structure-function dissection of human tissues and organs. Her advances in imaging technologies have led to improved diagnostic abilities and treatments for cardiac arrhythmias as well as breast cancer and preterm birth. She has been recognized for her development of optical imaging catheters for cardiac wall imaging by Forbes 30 under 30, the MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35, and by President Obama with the Presidential Early Career Awards in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milica Radisic</span> Serbian Canadian tissue engineer

Milica Radisic is a Serbian Canadian tissue engineer, academic and researcher. She is a professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. She co-founded TARA Biosystems and is a senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute.

Christine E. Schmidt is an American biomedical engineer. As a professor at the University of Florida, Schmidt was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame for her creation of the Avance Nerve Graft which has "improved the lives of numerous patients suffering from peripheral nerve damage." In 2024, Schmidt was elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine.

Erika Moore Taylor is a biomedical engineer, scientist, assistant professor, "Forbes 30 under 30 honoree," financial advisor, and the founder of a scholarship program that has been featured on CNBC.

Alyssa Panitch is an American biomedical engineer. She is a Professor and Department Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Panitch focuses on designing biopolymers that improve tissue healing and regeneration by researching intracellular and extracellular approaches to direct molecular and cellular processes.

Claudia Fischbach is a German bioengineer who serves as the James M. and Marsha McCormick Director of Biomedical Engineering and the Stanley Bryer 1946 Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. She is Director of the Cornell Physical Sciences Oncology Center on the Physics of Cancer Metabolism.

References

  1. ↑ "The Body Electric". Bloomberg. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Welch, Liz (October 2015). "How a Bone-Growing Startup Lured 66 Investors, Including Peter Thiel". Inc. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Blank, Steve (1 March 2016). "Entrepreneurs are Everywhere Show No. 23: Nina Tandon and Brandon McNaughton". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sceleb | Nina Tandon". Future-ish. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Nina Tandon". TED. TED Conferences. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Nina Tandon". The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Donate organs? No, grow them from scratch". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Herro, Alana (30 September 2011). "Fellows Friday with Nina Tandon". TED Blog. TED Conferences. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Vogue: Meet Nina Tandon, the woman who is working on growing bones in a lab".
  10. 1 2 "Nina Tandon, PhD '09 BME". gradengineering.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  11. ↑ "Columbia Business School: 43rd Annual Dinner" . Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nina Tandon, PhD '09 BME". Columbia Engineering: Graduate Student Affairs. Columbia University. 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Brodwin, Erin. "This Woman's Revolutionary Startup Could Change 900,000 Surgeries A Year". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  14. ↑ Griggs, Brandon (30 October 2015). "How to grow human bones in a lab". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Lisy, Brandon; Beach, Justin (2 March 2015). "The Process of Growing Bones from Scratch". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  16. ↑ EpiBone. "Technology: Our 3 Step Process". EpiBone. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  17. ↑ Barbella, Michael. "EpiBone to Start Clinical Trials for Lab-Grown Knee Cartilage". Orthopedic Design and Technology. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  18. ↑ Mycynek, Rima Chaddha. "Nina Tandon, SM '06". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  19. ↑ "How to Succeed in Science, According to Some of the World's Brightest Female Scientists" . Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  20. 1 2 3 "Nina Tandon | Nina". ninatandon.co. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  21. ↑ Tandon, Nina. "Biology as a Tool to Innovate". EpiBone. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
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