FUNDerdome: Center for Emergent Complexity in Biomaterials
How do we increase and leverage our knowledge about natural systems for human benefit? This proposed center is all over it.
TL;DR
A team of faculty members from the natural sciences aims to establish a hub dedicated to better understanding the seemingly miraculous work of natural systems. Together, they will unlock the secrets and solve the puzzles around the architecture, construction, and function of complex structures. They will then use that knowledge to create synthetic materials that benefit human health, energy, and the environment. Jump to: their big idea; the why and why us; implications for Rochester’s reputation; the final pitch.
“FUNDerdome! FUNDerdome! FUNDerdome!”
This is the desired internal monologue for all readers of FUNDerdome posts. We want the frenzied spectator energy found in any Jean-Claude Van Damme movie where his character participates in a high-stakes martial arts tournament.
Now that you’re in the right headspace, we can get to the Center for Emergent Complexity in Biomaterials (CECB), which has Mother Nature’s secrets in its sights.
The team
Co-leads:
- Anne Meyer
Associate professor, Department of Biology
- Brad Nilsson
Professor, Department of Chemistry
Director, Materials Science Program
- Benjamin Partridge
Assistant professor, Department of Chemistry
Quick background
Unless you’re a biologist or biophile, there’s a lot to unpack in just the center’s name. First, biomaterials are natural or synthetic materials that interact with biological systems to mimic behavior or repair, replace, or enhance function. In any case—and this is key—biomaterials work in harmony with the system, such as our circulatory system. Those who have had the misfortune of experiencing a serious cardiac event may have been treated with Dacron, a synthetic fiber used to repair blood vessels, or have a stent made from a metal alloy or even biodegradable material. Some may even have received a new heart valve from a pig.
Emergent complexity refers to processes in which simple components and interactions bring about complex structures or behaviors. We are emergent complexity. The human body comprises molecules and cells that make up tissues and organs, and they are constantly working together—even adapting and evolving—to maintain the functions critical for life. Other examples are snowflakes and artificial intelligence.
Studying emergent complexity demands integrated expertise of remarkable breadth and depth. Rochester researchers are already engaged in essential areas, but they’re spread across many departments, including chemistry, biology, physics, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and many others in the medical center. That makes interactions between faculty with synergistic interests difficult and time-consuming, hindering and limiting transdisciplinary research. The CECB will address this challenge by building a well-organized, central hub that promotes collaboration and idea-sharing, helps surface funding opportunities, and builds community among Rochester researchers.
Okay—Picture this…
What’s the main idea behind the institute?
Mother Nature achieves myriad functions, such as growth, motion, communication, and adaptation by organizing multiple components and interactions—controlling the “where” and “when”—into complex structures (again, such as our bodies, but also ant colonies). Through her collective actions over multiple length and time scales, sophisticated properties and functions emerge. Addressing or reproducing these functions through synthetic means is a significant challenge. For example, the human body can’t be understood by examining the pancreas alone.
The innate complexity of biological systems is an imposing challenge resulting in a lack of fundamental understanding of how natural systems control and program the collective action found within them. The proposed CECB not only intends to address that knowledge gap but also to develop new synthetic materials and systems that benefit how we deliver health care, use energy, and protect the environment.
Just as you can’t understand a biological system by examining a single component, no faculty member or department can fully address this problem alone. The success of this initiative is rooted in the ability to investigate and study biological systems and their models across length scales. That approach demands close collaboration between researchers in multiple River Campus and medical center departments. In other short, this research needs a dedicated center.
The CECB will build a shared vision for integrated biomaterials research and accelerate discovery through monthly research meetings, seed funding initiatives, undergraduate research support, and graduate student travel awards.
As of this writing, the team has hosted several talks from faculty members to learn about what their research group is interested in and what kind of tools and capabilities they have. It’s one of the activities they have engaged in to find synergies. Additionally, they are organizing a symposium in May for which they will invite biomaterial luminaries from other institutions to feed our aspirations.
Success is in the air
Why and how is Rochester poised to take this on, and what strengths is this institute bringing to the table?
There are a handful of factors that not only justify a CECB being established but also would have it poised for early success.
- Some people say it’s everything. And if you believe it, then the time for the CECB is now. Rochester is enjoying a boom of talented faculty engaged in research related to complex biomaterials. Here’s a list (which doesn’t include Ben Partridge, a co-leader of the center) of those who were hired in the last three years:
- Yasemin Basdogan, chemical engineering
- Gang Fan, chemical engineering
- Marisol Herrera-Perez, biomedical engineering
- Yishu Jiang, chemistry
- Darren Lipomi, chemical engineering
- Allison Lopatkin, chemical/biomedical engineering
- The proposed center wouldn’t duplicate existing efforts at Rochester. In addition to being distinctive at the University, it would also be rare for the region. If Rochester becomes a regional hub, it will create opportunities to leverage complementary strengths at the University at Buffalo and RIT.
- Having a research-focused medical center nearby is a huge advantage that would accelerate the translation of the center’s findings and further encourage innovation.
- Because the CECB would be creating something fundamentally new, there’s potential that an investment here would have an outsized effect compared to one made in a more mature Rochester initiative.
Reputation. Reputation. Reputation.
How will the success of the institute enhance Rochester’s prominence and prestige?
Earlier, we shared that the CECB aspires to create synthetic materials and systems that benefit health care, energy, and the environment, which all face major challenges of global concern. Moving the needle in any of these areas would contribute to Rochester’s reputation as a global leader in research.
So, imagine the CECB is greenlit. There’s now a community of faculty that has a greater capacity to do fundamental research on biomaterials. And because of shared instrumentation and training opportunities, they are working more efficiently and effectively, expediting their progress into translational studies and, ultimately, life-changing outcomes.
What kind of outcomes?
Let’s say the CECB focuses on self-healing biomaterials (extremely hypothetical). The results could lead to the development of better wound dressings, solar panels that work better for more extended periods, or more effective filters to counteract air and water pollution. That’s the kind of innovation the CECB would be working toward.
The team envisions that their work will enable the center to successfully compete to be part of an elite group (about 15 to 20 institutions) that receives six-year grants through the National Science Foundation’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) Program. They’ll throw in their hat for the next awards (2026), but know it can take several attempts to succeed in this highly competitive national competition—that’s what makes receiving funding for the center so important. With the University’s funding, they would be able to build momentum and be in an even better position for MRSEC’s 2029 award cycle.
The final pitch
We mentioned the distinctive nature of the center in a previous section, but its significance to the team warrants repeating it. The CECB isn’t like any existing group at Rochester. While it would be building on existing strengths, its core function would be an entirely new entity, which is why the team believes it has unique potential to really transform biomaterials research at Rochester.
Co-lead Ben Partridge offered another perspective, one that’s rooted in us living in a physical, materials-based world. “We are surrounded by materials every minute of every day,” he says. “The materials we do all of our computation on, the materials used when we go to the hospital, the clothes we wear—the examples are nearly endless. So, in my mind, advances in materials are still the number one way that you can transform society. Making better materials can help solve some of most challenging and longest-standing problems we have.”
