Site Home / Research

Research

The focus of the Cullen Lab’s research in Neurotrauma is the application of engineering principles to better understand the causative mechanisms and pathophysiological responses following traumatic injury to the nervous system. Specific attention is given to neural injury biomechanics and mechanisms of acute biophysical cellular/tissue damage. In the arena of Neural Engineering, the objective is to develop neurotechnology to mitigate trauma-induced deficits or augment the body’s capacity for regeneration. Here, focus is given to neural tissue engineering strategies and the development of biohybridized technologies for long-term neurobiological-electrical interfaces.

Projects

Neuron in 3d

Traumatic Brain Injury: Linking Macro- to Micro-Biomechanics
Blasted induced color change

Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury
neurogenesis

Neural Tissue Engineering

neurons

Biohybridized Neural Interface Microsystems

Top ↑

Contact Information

D. Kacy Cullen, Ph.D
105E Hayden Hall, 3320 Smith Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
dkacy@mail.med.upenn.edu

Apply to join the Cullen Lab

CBIR Logo

Neurosurgery

News and Events

  • Dr. Cullen and colleagues Dr. John Duda and Dr. John Wolf received a 5-year Merit Review from the Department of Veterans Affairs entitled "Chronic Neurodegenerative and Neurophysiological Sequela of Closed-Head TBI."
  • Dr. Cullen and Dr. Smith have an article published in Scientific American titled "Bionic Connections" describing their efforts to develop biohybrid neuroprosthetic interfaces (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-artifical-arms-could-connect-nervous-system). In addition, the magazine published a web-based companion article on the use of this neural tissue engineering technology to repair peripheral nerve injuries (http://scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bionic-limb-researchers-build-new-bridges-nerve-injury).
  • Dr. Wolf and Laura Struzyna gave nanosymposium presentations at the Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Wolf presented "Alterations in Hippocampal Circuitry Post Diffuse Brain Injury in a Swine TBI Model". Laura Struzyna presented "A Stragey for Functional Restoration of Brain Pathways Using Micro-Tissue Engineered Constructs Containing Living Axon Tracts".
  • Dr. Cullen gave a lecture at the Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) in Ft. Lauderdale, FL detailing his recent work in "Acute Biophysical Responses and Neurophysiological Sequelae following Closed-Head Traumatic Brain Injury in Swine".
  • Commentary by Dr. Cullen was featured in a blog post about brain-based neural electrical interface systems: innovation-how-a-paralyzed-peson-uses-thoughts-to-control-a-robotic-arm
  • Dr. Cullen was interviewed for a blog post regarding the effects of traumatic brain injury on NFL athletes: http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2012/05/physics-of-hit-football-concussions.html
  • The Cullen Lab was awarded a grant from Axonia Medical, Inc. to advance novel neural tissue engineering technology to improve neuroregeneration following severe peripheral nerve injury.
  • A new company, Cerebid Technologies, has been formed by Dr. Cullen along with Ray Krauss, Douglas Smith and Shu Yang, to focus on translating their unique blast-sensitive photonic nanocrystals. These photonic nanocrystals, which change color following exposure to blast, are being developed as a "Blast Badge" to measure an individual soldiers blast exposure levels relative to thresholds for blast-induced traumatic brain injury, the "signature injury" in warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Dr. Cullen was invited to give a research talk at the Neuroprotection Research Seminar Series through the Shock, Trauma and Anesthesiology Research Center (STAR-ORC) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. He presented "Closed-Head Blast vs. Inertial TBI: Cellular Biophysical Responses and Neurophysiological Sequela".
  • Dr. Cullen was an Invited Speaker at the 2nd World Congress on Biotechnology in Philadelphia, PA. He presented "Neural Tissue Engineering Strategies for Cell Replacement and Axon Regeneration".

View more news. →