Ramille Shah, PhD

Ramille N. Shah, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, UIC
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dimension Inx, LLC Prof. Ramille Shah has over 20 years experience in the biomaterials and tissue engineering fields with an expertise in developing and characterizing new biomaterial strategies for tissue and organ regeneration including the use of natural and synthetic polymer systems, self-assembling biomaterials, gene and growth factor delivery systems, and 3D-printable biomaterials that have led to over a dozen issued and pending patents, as well as high impact publications in journals such as Science, Advanced Materials, and Science Translational Medicine. She spent 9 years at Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering and Surgery (Transplant Division) and was recently recruited to the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Bioengineering where she is currently a part time Associate Professor. As head of the Shah Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (TEAM) Lab, she has been focusing on the development, characterization, and translation of new functional 3D-printable materials that are compatible with room temperature extrusion-based 3D printing for both biomedical (e.g. complex tissue and organ engineering) and non-biomedical (e.g. energy and advanced structural) applications. Prof. Shah has established herself as a renowned leader in materials development for 3D printing, and her work relating to everything from ovary organ and musculoskeletal tissue printing to new methods for printing metals, and Martian and lunar dust has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine (also named Crain’s 40 Under 40), Fox 32 News, National Public Radio, the National Science Foundation’s Science Nation News, and other major national and international media outlets. In 2016, Prof. Shah co founded Dimension Inx, LLC to facilitate the translation and commercialization of the 3D-printable material technologies developed in her lab. As Chief Scientific Officer of Dimension Inx, Prof. Shah has been guiding the overall scientific strategy of Dimension Inx, developing various connections and relationships with strategic partners, collaborators, and potential investors, and leading Dimension Inx’s effort towards FDA approval of its initial base products. Prof. Shah earned her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in MSE with a specialty in Biomaterials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1.     Su, J., Satchell, S.C., Wertheim, J.A., Shah, R.N., “Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Crosslinked Gelatin Hydrogel Substrates with Conjugated Bioactive Peptides Influence Endothelial Cell Behavior”  Biomaterials 2019.

2.     Huang, Y., Jakus, A.E., Jordan, S.W., Dumanian, Z., Parker, K., Zhao, L., Patel, P.K, Shah, R.N., “3D-Printed “Hyperelastic Bone” Scaffolds Accelerate Bone Regeneration in Critical-Sized Calvarial Bone Defects” Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2019.

3.     Stock, S.R., Laugesen, M., Birkedal, H., Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., Park, J.S., and Almer, J.D. “Precision Lattice Parameter Determination From Transmission Diffraction of Thick Specimens With Irregular Cross Sections” J. Appl. Cryst., 2019, 52, 40-46.

4.     Lewis, P.L., Yan, M., Su, J., Shah, R.N., “Directing Growth of Biliary Epithilium within 3D-Printed Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels” Acta Biomaterialia, 2019, 85, 84-93.

5.     Taylor, S.L., Shah, R.N., Dunand, D.C., “Microstructure and Porosity Evolution During Sintering of Ni-Mn-Ga Wires Printed From Inks Containing Elemental Powders” Intermetallics, 2019, 104, 113-123.

6.     Calvo, M., Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., Spolenak R., Dunand, D.C., “Microstructure and Processing of 3D Printed Tungsten Microlattices and Infiltrated W-Cu Composites” Advanced Engineering Materials 2018, 20(9).

7.     Singh, M., Nanda, H.S., O’Rorke, R., Jakus, A.E., Shah, A.H., Shah, R.N., Webster, R.D., Steele, T.W.J. “Bioadhesive Electrocuring With Interdigitated 3D-Graphene Electrodes” Advanced Healthcare Materials 2018, 7(21).

8.     Lewis, P.L., Su, J., Yan, M., Meng, F., Glaser, S.S., Alpini, G.D., Green, R.M., Sosa-Pineda, B., Shah, R.N., “Complex Bile Duct Network Formation Within Liver Decellularized Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels” Scientific Reports 2018, 8(1), 12220.

9.     Yang, M., Lewis, P.L., Shah, R.N. “Tailoring nanostructure and bioactivity of 3D printable hydrogels with self-assemble Peptides Amphiphile (PA) for promoting bile duct formation”.  Biofabrication 2018, 10(3).

10.  Clavo, M., Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., Spolenak, R., Dunand, D.C., “Microstructure and Processing of 3D Printed Tungsten Microlattices and Infiltrated W-Cu Composites” Advanced Engineering Materials 2018, 20 (9).

11.  Taylor, S.L., Ibeh, A.J., Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., Dunand, D.C., “NiTi-Nb Micro-Trusses Fabricated Via Extrusion-Based 3D-Printing of Powders and Transient-Liquid-Phase Sintering” Acta Biomaterialia 2018, 76, 359-370.

12.  Guiney, L.M., Mansukhani, N.D., Jakus, A.E., Wallace, S.G., Hersam, M.C., Shah, R.N., “Three-Dimensional Printing of Cytocompatible, Thermally Conductive Hexagonal Boron Nitride Composites” Nanoletters 2018, 18(6), 3488-3493.

13.  Liu, X., Jakus, A.E., Kural, M., Qian, H., Engler, A., Ghaedi, M., Shah, R.N., Steinbacher, D.M., Niklason, L.E., “Vascularization of Natural and Synthetic Bone Scaffolds” Cell Transplantation 2018, 27(8), 1269-1280.

14.  Su, J., Satchell, S.C., Wertheim, J.A., Shah, R.N. “Kidney Decellularized Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels:  Rheological Characterization and Human Glomerular Endothelial Cell Response to Encapsulation” Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A 2018, 106(9), 2448-2462.

15.  Jakus, A.E., Geisendorfer, N.R., Lewis, P.L., Shah, R.N. “3D-Printing Porosity: A New Approach to Creating Elevated Porosity Materials and Structures”.  Acta Biomaterialia  2018, 72, 94-109.

16.  Lewis, P.L., Green R.M., Shah, R.N., “3D-Printed Gelatin Scaffolds of Differing Pore Geometry Modulate Hepatocyte Function and Gene Expression”  Acta Biomaterialia 2017, 69, 63-70.

17.  Alluri, R., Jakus, A.E., Bougioukli, S., Pannell, W., Sugiyama, O., Tang, A., Shah, R.N., Lieberman, J., “3D Printed Hyperelastic “Bone” Scaffolds and Regional Gene Therapy. A Novel Approach to Bone Healing” J Biomedical Materials Research Part A  2017, 106(4), 1104-1110.

18.  Taylor, S.L., Jakus, A.E., Koube, K.D., Geisendorfer, N.R., Ibeh, A.J., Shah, R.N., Dunand, D.C., “Sintering of Micro-Trusses Created by Extrusion-3D-Printing of Lunar Regolith Inks” Acta Astronautica 2017, 143, 1-8.

19.  Taylor, Shah, R.N., Dunand, D.C., “Ni-Mn-Ga Micro-trusses via Sintering of 3D-printed Inks Containing Elemental Powders” Acta Materialia, 2017, 143, 20-29.

20.  Stranford, D., Hung, M., Gargus, E., Shah, R.N., Leonard, J.  “A Systematic Evaluation of Factors Affecting Extracellular Vesicle Uptake by Breast Cancer Cells”.  Tissue Engineering – Part A, 2017, 23(21-22),1274-1282.

21.  Jakus, A.E., Laronda, M.M., Rashedi, A.S., Robinson, C.M., Lee, C., Jordan, S.W., Orwig, K.E., Woodruff, T.K., Shah, R.N. “Tissue Papers” from Organ-Specific Decellularized Extracellular Matrices”.  Advanced Functional Materials, 2017, 27(34).

22.  Rutz, A.L., Lewis, P.L., Shah, R.N. “Toward next-generation bioinks: Tuning mechanical properties pre- and post- printing to optimize cell viability” MRS Bulletin 2017, 42 (8), 563-570.

23.  Jakus, A.E., Koube, K.D., Geisendorfer, N.R., Shah, R.N. “Robust and Elastic Lunar and Martian Structures from 3D-Printed Regolith Inks”.  Scientific Reports 2017, 7, 44931.

24.  Laronda, M.M. and Rutz, A.L., Whelan, K.A., Roth, E.W., Woodruff, T.K.*, Shah, R.N*. “A Bioprosthetic Ovary Created Using 3D Printed Microporous Scaffolds Restores Ovarian Function in Sterilized Mice”. Nature Communications 2017, 8, 15261.

25.  Taylor, S.L., Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., Dunand, D.C. “Iron and Nickel Cellular Structures by Sintering of 3D-Printed Oxide or Metallic Particle Inks” Advanced Engineering Materials, 2017, 19(11).

26.  Jakus, A.E., Rutz, A.L., Jordan, S.W., Kannan, A., Mitchell, C., Yun, C., Koube, K.D., Yoo, S.C., Whiteley, H.E., Richter, C.P., Galiano, R.D., Hsu, W.K., Stock, S.R., Hsu, E.L., Shah, R.N. “Hyperelastic “Bone”: A Highly Versatile, Growth Factor-Free, Osteoregenerative, Scalable, and Surgically Friendly Biomaterial”. Science Translational Medicine, 2016, 8(358).

27.  Jakus, A.E., Shah, R.N., “Multi- and Mixed 3D-Printing of Graphene-Hydroxyapatite Hybrid Materials for Complex Tissue Engineering”. Journal of Biomedical Research: Part A. 2016, 105(1), 274.

28.  Lewis, P.L., Shah, R.N., “3D Printing for Liver Tissue Engineering:  Current Approaches and Future Challenges” Current Transplantation Reviews. 2016, 3(100).

29.  Wang, B., Jakus, A.E., Baptista, P.M., Soker, S., Soto-Gutierrez, A., Abecassis, M.M., Shah, R.N., Wertheim, J.A. “Functional maturation of iPSC-hepatocytes in extracellular matrix — A comparative analysis of bioartificial liver microenvironments”. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2016, 5(9), 1257.

30.  Frolich, S., Leemreize, H., Jakus, A.E., Xiao, X., Shah, R.N., Birkedal, H., Almer, J.D., Stock, S.R., “Diffraction Tomography and Rietveld Refinement of a Hydroxyapatite Bone Phantom” Journal of Applied Crystallography 2016, 49, 103.

31.  Jakus, A.E., Rutz, A., Shah, R.N., “Advancing the Field of 3D Biomaterial Printing” J Biomedical Materials 2016, 11(1).

32.  Jakus, A.E., Taylor, S.L., Geisendorfer, N.R., Dunand, D.C., Shah, R.N., “Metallic Architectures from 3D-Printed Powder-Based Liquid Inks” Advanced Functional Materials 2015, 25, 6985.

33.  Jakus, A.E, Secor, E., Rutz, A., Jordan, S., Hersam, M.*, Shah, R.N.*, “Three Dimensional Printing of High-Content Graphene Scaffolds for Electronic and Biomedical Applications” ACS Nano 2015, 9(4), 4636 – Cover.

34.  Rutz, A.L., Hyland, K.E., Jakus, A.E., Burghardt W.R., Shah, R.N., “A Tunable Bioink Method for Multi-Material 3D Printing of Cell-Laden Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels” Advanced Materials 2015, 27(9),1607.

35.  Laronda, M.M., Jakus, A.E., Whelan, K.A., Wertheim, J.A., Shah, R.N., Woodruff, T.K., “Initiation of Puberty in Mice Following Decellularized Ovary Transplant” Biomaterials 2015, 50, 20.