Badylak Lab Receives 2020 ABME Best Paper Award

University of Pittsburgh Professor Stephen Badylak and bioengineering graduate student Madeline Cramer recently received the “Best Paper Award” from the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (ABME). The award recognizes the publication with the most citations from all papers published in ABME in a given year. The group’s winning article examines ECM-based biomaterials and how they influence cell behavior (DOI: s10439-019-02408-9). 

Dr. Badylak’s lab in Pitt’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine studies the use of biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) to facilitate functional tissue and organ reconstruction. ECM is the non-cellular part of the tissue that provides essential structural support and also initiates biochemical and biomechanical cues.

“There is a wide range of clinical outcomes following implantation of ECM-based materials which can often be attributed to differences in the preparation of the material,” said Cramer. “In this paper, we review aspects of the ECM preparation process that can impact the quality of the final product. We also provide examples of favorable cellular responses that can be associated with ECM materials when these processing variables are appropriately considered.”

Dr. Badylak and Cramer will receive the award, along with an honorarium, during the 2021 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida October 6-9.

Dr. Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD is a professor in Pitt’s Department of Surgery and Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He also holds an appointment in the Swanson School of Engineering’s Department of Bioengineering.

Cramer, a member of Badylak’s lab, received her BS in materials science and MS in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently pursuing her PhD in the Swanson School’s Department of Bioengineering.