David Dean, PhD

Position title: Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Phone: (608) 265-8921

Organ System/Disease Focus: Skeletal Reconstructive Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, Biofabrication, Tissue Engineering, Virtual Surgical Planning, Skeletal Reconstruction Device Design and Manufacturing
Aligned Research Focus: Point of Care Manufacturing, Medical Imaging, Microvasculature and Bone Tissue Engineering, Resorbable Metals, NiTi skeletal reconstruction devices

Research Description:

In July 1994, Dr. Dean joined the faculty at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH) where he began work on the design and fabrication of large cranial implants in the Department of Neurological Surgery. Since the mid-1990’s Dr. Dean’s research has expanded to incorporate techniques from the fields of regenerative medicine, biomaterials, stem cells, and cell-signaling molecules (growth factors) in the search for a bone tissue engineering (i.e., bone substitute) strategy. In 2013, Dr. Dean’s primary appointment moved to the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at The Ohio State University (OSU) (Columbus, OH). In 2025, his primary appointment moved from OSU to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) where Dr. Dean now leads the Osteo Engineering Laboratory’s (www.OsteoEngineering.com) working on novel bone and microvasculature tissue engineering research using 3D printed, resorbable, solid-cured polymer scaffolds as well as bioprinted, cell-laden, hydrogels. Dr. Dean led the Point-of-Care Manufacturing Testbed at the NSF-Funded HAMMER Engineering Research Center (ERC) at OSU. UW-Madison has now joined the HAMMER ERC. Those collaborative activities include offering an annual workshop on, and conducting research with, the novel resorbable polymer fiber weaving technology referred to as Melt Electrowriting.

Selected References:

1. Hooper R, Cummings C, Beck A, Vazquez-Armendariz J, Rodriguez C, Dean D. Sheet-based extrusion bioprinting: a new multi-material paradigm providing mid-extrusion micropatterning control for microvascular applications. Biofabrication. 2024 Mar 14;16(2):025032.

2. Vazquez-Armendariz, J., Tejeda-Alejandre, R., Zhang, A., Rodriguez, C.A. and Dean, D., 2024. Melt electrowriting on out-of-plane surfaces: The challenge of controlling the electric field for textile biomanufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 125, pp.172-177.

3. Hooper, R., Cummings, C., Beck, A., Vazquez-Armendariz, J., Rodriguez, C. and Dean, D., 2024. Sheet-based extrusion bioprinting: a new multi-material paradigm providing mid-extrusion micropatterning control for microvascular applications. Biofabrication, 16(2), p.025032.

4. Hooper, R., Arish, A.A., Alejandre, R.T., Brune, R., Rodriguez, C., de Santiago, G.T., Alvarez, M.M., Mitchell, K.A. and Dean, D., 2022. Chaotic printing of hydrogel carriers for human mesenchymal stem cell expansion. Procedia CIRP, 110, pp.236-241.

5. Xu, Y., Luong, D., Walker, J.M., Dean, D. and Becker, M.L., 2017. Modification of poly (propylene fumarate)–bioglass composites with peptide conjugates to enhance bioactivity. Biomacromolecules, 18(10), pp.3168-3177.

*Dr. Dean is a member of the SCRMC Musculoskeletal Regeneration Group