Patrick A. Tresco

Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering

Tresco Lab
Neurobiology of Disease

 

 

 

 

e-mail: Patrick.Tresco@utah.edu
B.A. 1979, Susquehanna University; M.S. 1983, University of Rhode Island; Ph.D. 1991, Brown University

RESEARCH: 

CNS Response to Implanted Materials

Our primary research focus is in understanding and manipulating the response of nervous tissues to implanted devices in order to improve the biocompatibility of several classes of indwelling devices including stimulating and recording electrodes, bridging devices, cell transplantation vehicles, drug delivery devices and catheters. Using histological techniques and cell based approaches, our group studies the foreign body response, especially the interactions of activated macrophages and the affect of persistent inflammation on adjacent nervous tissue function. In pursuit of our goal, we employ several novel approaches including, novel biomaterials and bioreactors for engineering cell derived ECM for use in bridging devices, specialized devices for cell transplantation, novel surface coatings for biomaterials, and have developed new tools to study soluble factor delivery in brain tissue.

Selected Publications: 

Winslow, B.D., Christensen, M.B., Yang, W.K., Solzbacher, F., and Tresco, P.A. (2010) A comparison of the tissue response to chronically implanted Parylene-C-coated and uncoated planar silicon microelectrode arrays in rat cortex. Biomaterials, in press.

Tresco, P.A., and Winslow, B.D. (2010) The challenge of integrating biomaterials into the CNS. Crit Rev Biomed Eng, in press.

Winslow, B., and Tresco, P.A. (2010) Quantitative analysis of the tissue response to chronically implanted microwire electrodes in rat cortex. Biomaterials, Mar;31(7):1558-1567.

Wolchok, J.C., Brokopp, C., Underwood, C.J., and Tresco, P.A. (2009) The effect of bioreactor induced vibrational stimulation on extracellular matrix production form human derived fibroblasts., Biomaterials, Jan;30(3):327-335.

Smeal, R., and Tresco, P.A. (2008) The Influence of Substrate Curvature on Neurite Outgrowth is Cell Type Dependent., Exp Neurol, Oct;213(2):281-292.

Leung, B., Biran, R., Underwood, C.J., and Tresco, P.A. (2008) Characterization of microglial attachment and cytokine release on biomaterials of differing surface chemistry. Biomaterials, Aug;29(23):3289-3297.