Nenad Bursac
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Overview
Bursac's research interests include: Stem cell, tissue engineering, and gene based therapies for heart and muscle regeneration; Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias; Organ-on-chip and tissue engineering technologies for disease modeling and therapeutic screening; Small and large animal models of heart and muscle injury, disease, and regeneration.
The focus of my research is on application of pluripotent stem cells, tissue engineering, and gene therapy technologies for: 1) basic studies of striated muscle biology and disease in vitro and 2) regenerative therapies in small and large animal models in vivo. For in vitro studies, micropatterning of extracellular matrix proteins or protein hydrogels and 3D cell culture are used to engineer rodent and human striated muscle tissues that replicate the structure-function relationships present in healthy and diseased muscles. We use these models to separate and systematically study the roles of structural and genetic factors that contribute cardiac and skeletal muscle function and disease at multiple organizational levels, from single cells to tissues. Combining cardiac and skeletal muscle cells with primary or iPSC-derived non-muscle cells (endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, immune system cells, neurons) allows us to generate more realistic models of healthy and diseased human tissues and utilize them to mechanistically study molecular and cellular processes of tissue injury, vascularization, innervation, electromechanical integration, fibrosis, and functional repair. Currently, in vitro models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Pompe disease, dyspherlinopathies, and various cardiomyopathies are studied in the lab. For in vivo studies, we employ rodent models of volumetric skeletal muscle loss, cardiotoxin and BaCl2 injury as well as myocardial infarction and transverse aortic constriction to study how cell, tissue engineering, and gene (viral) therapies can lead to safe and efficient tissue repair and regeneration. In large animal (porcine) models of myocardial injury and arrhythmias, we are exploring how human iPSC derived heart tissue patches and application of engineered ion channels can improve cardiac function and prevent heart failure or sudden cardiac death.
Positions
Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering
2016 Pratt School of Engineering
Associate Professor in Medicine in the School of Medicine
2011 School of Medicine
Professor in Cell Biology in the School of Medicine
2016 School of Medicine
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute in the School of Medicine
2015 School of Medicine
Co-Director of the Duke Regeneration Center in the School of Medicine
2021 School of Medicine
Education
B.S.E. 1994
1994 University of Belgrade (Serbia)
Ph.D. 2000
2000 Boston University
Publications, Grants & Awards
- Grants (40)
- Academics Articles (154)
- Book Sections (6)
- Conference Pages (31)
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
American Heart Association
American Heart Association
National Institutes of Health
American Heart Association
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
University of Alabama at Birmingham
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Fondation Leducq
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Pfizer, Inc.
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Nature Communications
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Journal of the American Heart Association
Cell Stem Cell
Nature Communications
The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Science Translational Medicine
Scientific Reports
Nature Communications
Cell Stem Cell
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
Frontiers in Physiology
Communications Biology
Acta Biomaterialia
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Science Advances
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Toxicological Sciences
Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery
Biotechnol Adv
Jci Insight
Journal of Cell Science
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
Biomaterials
Circulation Research
Nature Biomedical Engineering
Molecular Therapy : the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy
Acta Biomaterialia
Advanced Healthcare Materials
Plos Computational Biology
Nature Protocols
Biomaterials
Nature Communications
Nature Communications
Acs Synthetic Biology
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Acta Biomaterialia
Scientific Reports
Plos Computational Biology
Theranostics
Scientific Reports
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Nature Communications
Science Translational Medicine
Methods (San Diego, Calif.)
Tissue Eng Part A
Scientific Reports
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering
Circulation Research
Experimental Biology and Medicine
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
Faseb Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Biomaterials
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Circulation. Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
Biomaterials
Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Research & Therapy
Circulation
Circulation. Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Stem Cell Research & Therapy
Regenerative Medicine
Cardiovasc Res
Biomaterials
Circulation Research
Circulation Research
Biomaterials
Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging Proceedings of Spie
Nature Communications
Circulation
Biomedical Optics Express
Journal of Biomedical Optics
Biophysical Journal
Biophysical Journal
Regenerative Medicine
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Cardiovascular Research
American Journal of Physiology. Cell Physiology
Biophysical Journal
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
Nature Protocols
Circulation
Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Conference Proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference
Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology
Cardiovascular Research
Conference Proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference
Conference Proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference
Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)
Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine : the Quarterly Magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Tissue Engineering
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Circulation Research
Annals of Surgery
Acta Astronautica
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Circulation
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Annual International Conference of the Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Proceedings
Annual International Conference of the Ieee Engineering in Medicine and Biology Proceedings
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
The American Journal of Physiology
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering
Tissue Engineering and Artificial Organs
Tissue and Organ Regeneration: Advances in Micro- and Nanotechnology
Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside: Sixth Edition
Tissue Engineering
Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside
Molecular Therapy
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Proceedings of International Design Conference, Design
Circulation
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Tissue Engineering. Part A
Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
Molecular Therapy
Molecular Therapy
Molecular Therapy
Molecular Therapy
Biophysical Journal
Circulation
Circulation
2006 28TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY, VOLS 1-15
Offices & Contact
Durham, NC
27708 Duke Box 90281
Durham, NC
27708-0281