Rate My Professor Joe Tien

The Tien Group specializes in inventing perfusable, microfluidic biomaterials that replicate native vascular networks to overcome challenges in tissue engineering, such as nourishing large tissue volumes with functional microvessels. Their work encompasses synthesizing vascularized biomaterials, developing algorithms for scaffold design based on vascularization principles, creating vascularized microphysiological systems to study vessel-tissue interactions in cancer and obesity, engineering human lymphatic vessel models, and exploring vascularization mechanics. Key publications include “Formation of Perfused, Functional Microvascular Tubes In Vitro” (Microvascular Research, 2006), “Microfluidic Biomaterials” (Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2021), “Tissue Engineering of the Microvasculature” (Comprehensive Physiology, 2019), and “Obesity-Associated Conditions Hinder Solute Drainage Function of Engineered Human Lymphatic Vessels” (Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, 2025). Tien has been honored with the Boston University College of Engineering Award for Teaching Excellence (2018) and Outstanding Professor of the Year (2013), the NIH/NIBIB Edward C. Nagy New Investigator Award (2006), and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (1993–1996). His contributions have significantly influenced the field by enabling scalable vascularized tissues for regenerative medicine and precise in vitro models of diseases.