Athanassios Sambanis
Professor
Contact Information
Building: Petit IBB
Office: 1306
Phone: 404.894.2869
Fax: 404.894.2291
email
Mailing Address
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical &
Biomolecular Engineering
311 Ferst Drive, N.W.
Atlanta, GA 30332-0100
Links
Athanassios Sambanis
Education
B.S. 1979, National Technical University,
Athens Greece
Ph.D. 1985, University of Minnesota
Research Interests
Dr. Sambanis' area of expertise is biochemical and biomedical engineering. His research emphasizes the application of chemical engineering principles towards developing tissue substitutes for restoring metabolic and secretory functions. Current projects focus on the core, enabling technologies that are needed for engineering a pancreatic tissue substitute either by genetically engineering non-pancreatic cells so that they secrete insulin in response to physiologic stimuli, or by encapsulating insulin-secreting cells for protection from the immune system of the host after implantation. Non-invasive analytical techniques, in particular nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging, are used along with more traditional, invasive ones, to assess the long-term function of cells in artificial tissues. Associating cells with glucose-responsive materials for the purpose of generating hybrid systems with improved insulin secretion characteristics is being pursued, as are the development and evaluation of cryopreservation procedures for encapsulated cell systems. Mathematical modeling is used to engineer optimally functional capsules and to simulate biological processes at the subcellular, cellular and tissue levels. Dr. Sambanis is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Tissue Engineering Society International, and the American Diabetes Association.