Brandon Wagner

Mr. Brandon Wagner


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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13 October 2022 in Micromachines
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
RRRichard A. Revia
Richard A. Revia
BWBrandon Wagner
Brandon Wagner
MJMatthew James
Matthew James
MZMiqin Zhang
Miqin Zhang
Cells cultured in three-dimensional scaffolds express a phenotype closer to in vivo cells than cells cultured in two-dimensional containers. Natural polymers are suitable materials to make three-dimensional scaffolds to develop disease models for high-throughput drug screening owing to their excellent biocompatibility. However, natural polymer solutions have a range of viscosities, and none of the currently available liquid dispensers are capable of dispensing highly viscous polymer solutions. Here, we report the development of an automated scaffold dispensing system for rapid, reliable, and homogeneous creation of scaffolds in well-plate formats. We employ computer-controlled solenoid valves to regulate air pressure impinging upon a syringe barrel filled with scaffold solution to be dispensed. Automated dispensing of scaffold solution is achieved via a programmable software interface that coordinates solution extrusion and the movement of a dispensing head. We show that our pneumatically actuated dispensing system can evenly distribute high-viscosity, chitosan-based polymer solutions into 96- and 384-well plates to yield highly uniform three-dimensional scaffolds after lyophilization. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of high-throughput drug screening by culturing glioblastoma cells in scaffolds and exposing them to temozolomide. This work introduces a device that can hasten the creation of three-dimensional cell scaffolds and their application to high-throughput testing.