CARDIAC ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

& TISSUE ENGINEERING  

 

Dr. Nenad Bursac

 

 

 

 

NENAD BURSAC

Duke University

3000 Science Drive

Hudson Hall, Room 136   

Durham, NC 27708

Phone: (919) 660-5510

Fax: (919) 684-4488

E-mail: nbursac@duke.edu

 

 

 

 

OCCUPATION

 

09/03-present     Assistant Professor

Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC

 

EDUCATION

 

10/00-08/03       Postdoctorate

Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Advisors: Leslie Tung, PhD, Kam Leong, PhD         

 

    09/95–06/00      Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering

Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA.

GPA 3.96 / 4.00

Advisor: Solomon R. Eisenberg, PhD, research done in laboratory of Dr. Robert Langer at MIT

Thesis Topic: Engineered Cardiac Tissue: A Novel In Vitro Model for Electrophysiological Studies of Cardiac Muscle.

 

09/89-06/94       B.S. (Engineering Diploma) in Electrical Engineering

University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Focus on Automatics and Control.

GPA 9.82 / 10.00 (top 3 out of 850 students)

Advisor: Stevan Matausek, PhD

Thesis topic: Modeling of the Adaptive Control Systems in Industrial Plants.

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

 

2006-                 Column writer for IEEE EMB magazine

2005-2008         Scientist Development Grant, AHA

2002                  Trainee Abstract Award, AHA, Chicago

2002                  BMES merit award

2002                  Honorably Mentioned Finalist, Young Investigator Award Competition, NASPE, San Diego

2000-2003         Johns Hopkins BME Departmental Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship

2000-2002         American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship

1999-2000         William B. Walsh Award for Excellence in Biomedical Engineering

1994-1995         Teaching Fellowship, Tufts University, Medford, MA

1990-1994         National Scholarship for Outstanding Young Students, Yugoslavia

1986-1994         National Awards, Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics and Control Systems, Yugoslavia

 

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

 

Postdoctoral fellowship

00-03   Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

·         Use cell micropatterning and optical mapping techniques to develop novel 2-D cardiac myocyte networks with controlled micro- and macrostructure

·         Apply optical mapping of impulse propagation to study induction, termination, and acceleration of “reentrant arrhythmias in the dish” by programmed electrical pacing

·         Investigate electrophysiological effects of genetic up- and down-regulation of potassium currents in cultures of cardiac myocytes

·         Develop 3-D polymer scaffolds with oriented microarchitecture to support anisotropic growth of engineered cardiac tissue for experimental studies and repair of cardiac damage

·         Study role of electrical stimulation in induction of hypertrophied cardiac cell phenotype, and in enhanced yield and differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into excitable cell lineages inside tissue engineering bioreactors


Research Assistantship

95-00   Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA;

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, Laboratory of Prof. Robert Langer

·         Optimized structural and functional properties of three-dimensional engineered cardiac tissue by varying the biochemical and physical parameters of cultivation

·         Developed the experimental setup and data processing software for extracellular and intracellular studies of the mechanisms of impulse propagation in engineered cardiac tissues

·    Investigated use of engineered cardiac tissue constructs as a novel in vitro model system for pharmacological and electrophysiological studies of cardiac muscle

94-95   Department of Electrical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA

New England Medical Center, Boston, MA; Laboratory of Prof. Vo Van Toi

·    Conducted patient surveys and investigated effects of the drug use on the optical transfer function in humans

Summer Internship

7-9/00  Advanced Tissue Sciences, La Jolla, CA

·    Developed perfusable polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering

6-8/95  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

·    Applied image analysis to assess histological features of engineered cartilage tissue

7-8/93  Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

·    Investigated use of fractals in pattern recognition

7-8/92  Laboratory for Electronics and Robotics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

·    Designed hardware for optically sensitive oxygen concentration measurements

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE         

 

03-07   Duke University, Durham, NC

·         Lectured BME 101/201, Electrobiology

·         Developed and lectured BME 248, Quantitative Cell and Tissue Engineering

·         Organized BME 311, Graduate Seminar Series

·         Directly supervised 14 undergraduate, 2 MS, 1 MD/PhD, 6 PhD students and 2 postdoctoral fellows

·         Graudated 2 MS and 1 PhD student

·         Served as a committee member for additional 3 MS, and 8 PhD students

00-03   Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

·    Supervised 4 undergraduate and 3 graduate students in cardiac electrophysiology and tissue engineering projects

97-00   Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA

·    Supervised a team of two undergraduate students in the cardiac tissue engineering project

94-95   Department of Electrical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA

·    Lectured, tutored and graded undergraduate electrical engineering lab courses, including introduction in programming languages, and biomedical instrumentation.

93-94   College of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

·    Tutored undergraduate courses, including advanced mathematics, linear electronics, control systems, and signal processing.

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

 

Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)

American Heart Association (AHA)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Cardiac Electrophysiology Society

 

INVITED REVIEWER

 

         Circulation Research

Cardiovascular Research

Stem Cells

Nature Protocols

Biomaterials

Antioxidants & Redox Signaling

Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology

American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circulatory Physiology)

Tissue Engineering

IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Engineering

Chaos

         Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A

         Critical Reviews in Biomedical Engineering

         Acta Biomaterialia

         MCB Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics

Annals of Biomedical Engineering

NIH STTR/SBIR grant review panel

American Heart Association grant review panel

Lytmos/FDOH grant review panel

NIH BTSS grant review panel

           

PUBLICATIONS

 

1) Liau, I-C., Liu, J.B., Bursac, N., Leong, K.W. (2008) “Effect of Electromechanical Stimulation on the Maturation of Myotubes on Aligned Electrospun Fibers”, Vol 1., p.

2)      Bian, W., Bursac, N. (2008) “Tissue Engineering of Functional Skeletal Muscle: Challenges and Recent Advances”, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol. 27(5), p. 109-113.

3)      Pedrotty, D.M., Badie, N., Klinger, R., Kardashian, A., Hinds, S., Bursac, N. (2008) “Structural Coupling between Cardiomyocytes and Non-cardiomyocytes: Quantitative Comparisons Using a Novel Micropatterned Cell Pair Assay”, American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circ Physiol), Vol. 295(1), p. H390-H400.

4)      Kirkton, R.D., Bursac, N. (2008) “Genetic Engineering and Stem cells: Combinatorial Approaches for Cardiac Cell Therapy”, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol. 27(3), p. 85-88.

5)      Klinger, R., Bursac, N. (2008) “Cardiac Cell Therapy In Vitro: Reproducible Assays for Comparing the Efficacy of Different Donor Cells”, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol. 27(1), p. 72-80.

6)      Bursac, N. (2007) “Stem Cell Therapies for Heart Disease: Why Do We Need Bioengineers?”, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol. 26(4), p. 76-79.

7)      Bursac, N., Loo, Y., Leong, K.W., Tung, L. (2007) “Novel Anisotropic Engineered Cardiac Tissues: Studies of Electrical Propagation”, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Vol. 361(4), p. 847-53.

8)      Zhang, Z.S., Tranquillo, J., Naplioueva, V., Bursac, N., Grant, A.O. (2007) “Sodium Channel Kinetics Changes that Produce Brugada Syndrome or Progressive Cardiac Conduction System Disease”, American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circulatory Physiology), 292(1), p. H399-407.

9)      Tranquillo, J.V., Bursac, N. (2006) “The Role of Restitution in Pacing Induced Spiral Wave Acceleration”, Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. Vol. 1, p. 3919-22.

10)  Sathaye, A., Bursac, N., Sheehy, S., Tung, L. (2006) “Electrical Pacing Stabilizes Developmental Changes in Action Potential and Conduction Velocity of Cultured Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocyte Monolayers”, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Vol. 41(4), p. 633-41.

11)  Bursac, N., Tung, L. (2006) “Acceleration of Functional Reentry by Rapid Pacing in Uniformly Anisotropic Monolayers of Cardiac Myocytes: Formation of Novel Multi-Wave Functional Reentries”, Cardiovascular Res, Vol. 69(2), p. 381-90.

12)  Pedrotty, D., Bursac, N., “Cardiomyoplasty: Prospect of Human Stem Cells” (2005), IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol. 24(3), p. 125-7.

13)  Kong, CR., Bursac, N., Tung, L. (2005) “Mechanoelectrical Excitation by Fluid Jets in Monolayers of Cultured Cardiac Myocytes. J Appl Physiol, Vol. 98(6), p. 2328-36.

14)  Bursac, N., Aguel, F., Tung, L. (2004) “Multi-arm Spirals in a Two-Dimensional Cardiac Substrate”, Proceedings of National Academy of Science, Vol. 101(43), p. 15530-15534.

15)  Bursac, N., Papadaki, M., White, J.A., Eisenberg, S.R. Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. (2003) “Cultivation in Rotating Bioreactors Promotes Maintenance of Cardiac Myocyte Electrophysiology and Molecular Properties”, Tissue Engineering, Vol. 9(6), p. 1243-53.

16)  Iravanian, S., Nabutovsky, Y., Kong, C., Saha, S., Bursac, N., Tung, L. (2003) “Functional Reentry in Monolayers of Neonatal Rat Cardiac Cells”, American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circ Physiol), Vol. 285(1), p. H449-56.

17)  Bursac, N., Parker, K., Irvanian, S., Tung, L. (2002) “Cardiomyocyte Cultures with Controlled Macroscopic Anisotropy: A Model for Functional Electrophysiological Studies of Cardiac Muscle”, Circulation Research, Vol. 91, p. e45-e54.

18)  Bursac, N., Loo, Y., Irby, M.E., Leong, K.W., Tung, L. (2002) “Polymer Scaffolds for Anisotropic Growth of Engineered Cardiac Tissue”, in Biomedical Engineering: Recent Developments.  p. 141-142. Vossoughi, J. (Editor).

19)  Kong, C., Parker, K.K, Sathaye, A., Bursac, N., Entcheva, E., Tung L. (2002) “2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) Alters Wavefront Propagation and Functional Anisotropy in Micropatterned Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes”, in Biomedical Engineering: Recent Developments. p. 259-260. Vossoughi, J. (Editor).

20)  Aljuri, A.N., Bursac, N., Marini, R., Cohen, R.J. (2001) “System Identification of Dynamic Closed-Loop Control of Total Peripheral Resistance by Arterial and Cardiopulmonary Baroreceptors”, Acta Astronautica Vol. 49 (3-10), p. 167-170.

21)  Papadaki*, M., Bursac*, N., Langer, R., Merok J., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E., (2001) “Tissue Engineering of Functional Cardiac Muscle: Molecular, Structural and Electrophysiological Studies”, American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circ Physiol), Vol. 280(1), p. H168-H178 (*equally contributing authors).

22)  Bursac*, N., Papadaki*, M., Cohen, R.J., Schoen, F.J., Eisenberg, S.R., Carrier, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. (1999) “Cardiac Muscle Tissue Engineering: Towards an In Vitro Model for Electrophysiological Studies”, American Journal of Physiology, (Heart and Circ Physiol 46), Vol. 277, p. H433-H444. (*equally contributing authors).

23)  Carrier, R., Papadaki, M., Bursac, N., Langer, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L. (1999) "Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Cell Seeding, Cultivation Parameters, and Tissue Construct Characterization", Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 64(5), p. 580-589.

24)  McSpadden, L.C., Kirkton, R.D., Bursac, N. (2008) “Fibroblasts Couple with Cardiomyocytes through Cx45 Rather Than Cx43 Junctions and Alter Conduction”, in review.

25)  Badie, N., Bursac, N. (2008) “Novel Micropatterned Cardiac Cell Cultures with Realistic Ventricular Microstructure”, in review.

26)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. (2008) “Novel engineered skeletal muscle tissue networks with controllable architecture”, in review.

27)  Christoforou, N., Oskouei, B.N., Esteso, P., Hill, C.M., Zimmet, J.M., Bian, W., Bursac, N., Leong, K.W. Hare, J.M., Gearhart, J.D. (2008) “Implantation of mouse embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitor cells preserves function of infarcted murine hearts”, in review.

28)  Tranquillo, J.V., Badie, N., Henriquez, C.S., Bursac, N. (2008) “Negative Curvature as a Mechanism of Acceleration in Pacing-induced Multi-wave Spirals”, to be submitted.

29)  Pedrotty, D.M., Klinger, R.Y., Kirkton, R.D., Bursac N. (2008) “Paracrine Factors from Cardiac Fibroblasts Alter Ion Channel Expression and Electrical Propagation of Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes”, to be submitted.

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

 

1)      Bursac, N. (2006) “Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Matching Native Architecture and Function to Develop Safe and Efficient Therapy “, The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, 3rd edition, Tissue Engineering and Artificial Organs, Chapter 56, p. 1-24.

2)      Tung, L., Bursac, N., Aguel, F. (2004) “Rotors and Spiral Waves in Two Dimensions”, Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside, Zipes, D.P. and Jalife, J. (editors) 4th edition, p. 336-344.

 

INVITED SPEAKER

 

1)      “In Vitro Assays for Studying the Capacity of Donor Cells to Repair Cardiac Tissue Damage” AHA Scientific Sessions, New Orleans, LO, October 7, 2008.

2)      “Cardiac Electrophysiology in a Dish”, Cardiovascular Symposium, Duke University, NC, June 2, 2008.

3)      “Using Cell and Tissue Engineering to Aid Stem Cell Therapies for Heart Disease”, NYU Cardiology Grand Rounds, New York, NY, Mar 14, 2008.

4)      “Designing a Cardiac Tissue Patch with Native Structure and Function”, The Institute of Biological Engineering Annual Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, March 7, 2008.

5)      “Towards Rational Design of Cardiac Cell Therapies”, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, January 31, 2008.

6)      “Design of 2-D and 3-D Cardiac Tissues with Controllable Architecture and Function", Gordon’s Research Conference on Cardiac Arrhythmia Mechanisms, Ventura, CA, Mar 20, 2007.

7)      “Controlling the Engineered Cardiac Tissue Architecture and Function in Two and Three Dimensions”, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Dec 4, 2006.

8)      “Using Cardiac Cell and Tissue Engineering to Study Heart Electrophysiology”, Cardiac Electrophysiology Group, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC, May 10, 2006.

9)      “Cardiomyoplasty: Prospect of Human Stem Cells”, North Carolina Tissue Engineering Interest Group, Raleigh, Durham, NC, October 17, 2005.

10)  “Experimental and Computational Studies on Complex Spiral Waves in 2-D Cardiac Substrates”, American Physics Society, Los Angeles, CA, March 25, 2005.

11)  “Engineering 2- and 3-Dimensional Cardiac Tissues with Anisotropic Architecture”, North Carolina Tissue Engineering Interest Group, Raleigh, Durham, NC, September 30, 2004.

12)  “Cardiac Arrhythmias in Cell Cultures with Controllable Architecture, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, April 12, 2004.

13)  “Engineering the Synthetic Heart Tissues with Predefined Geometry and Function, Duke University Durham, NC, September 5, 2003.

14)  “Engineering Synthetic 2- and 3-Dimensional Networks of Cardiac Cells with Predefined Architecture and Electrophysiological Function”, Guidant, St. Paul, MN, April 17, 2003.

15)  “Designing the 2- and 3-Dimensional Cardiac Cell Networks with Predefined Structure-Funciton Relationships”, HST/MIT, Boston, MA, March 3, 2003.

16)  “Engineering the 2- and 3-Dimensional Cardiac Muscle Tissues with Controlled Structure-Function Relationships”, Duke University, Durham, NC. February 6, 2003

17)  “Use of Engineered 3-D Cardiac Tissue to Study Electrophysiology of Cardiac Muscle”, BMES Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 13, 2000.

18)  “Engineered Cardiac Tissues: Models for Electrophysiological Studies", Langer's Seminar Series, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, May 23, 2000.

19)  “Engineered Cardiac Tissue: Model System for Functional Studies of Cardiac Muscle”, Advanced Tissue Sciences, La Jolla, CA. March 24, 2000.

20)  “Cardiac muscle tissue engineering”, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, February 7, 2000.

 

ABSTRACTS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

 

1)      Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “Microfabricated Cardiac Tissue Patch with Tunable Structure and Function”, TERMIS-NA, Annual Conference and Exposition, San Diego, CA, 2008.

2)      Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “Structural and Functional Interactions of Stem Cells and Cardiomyocytes”, TERMIS-NA, Annual Conference and Exposition, San Diego, CA, 2008.

3)      Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Aligned and Differentiated Skeletal Muscle Tissues with Controllable Architecture and Function”, TERMIS-NA, Annual Conference and Exposition, San Diego, CA, 2008.

4)      Badie, N., Bursac, N. “Micropatterned Ventricular Slice: Role of Realistic Tissue Microstructure in Impulse Conduction”, AHA Scientific Sessions, New Orleans, LO, 2008.

5)      Klinger, R.Y., Bursac, N. “In vitro Cellular Implantation Assay to Quantitatively Compare the Ability of Different Donor Cells to Electrically Conduct within Cardiac Tissue”, AHA Scientific Sessions, New Orleans, LO, 2008.

6)      Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “In Vitro Assays for Studying the Capacity of Donor Cells to Repair Cardiac Tissue Damage”, AHA Scientific Sessions, New Orleans, LO, 2008.

7)      Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Functional Skeletal Muscle Tissue Networks Made of Aligned and Differentiated Myofibers”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

8)      Kirkton, R., Bursac, N. “Genetic Engineering of Electrically Excitable Cells for Experimental Studies and Tissue Repair”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

9)      Klinger, R., Bursac, N. “In vitro Assay to Study Electrical Propagation of Different Donor Cells within Cardiac Cell Network”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

10)  McSpadden, L., Kirkton, R., Bursac, N. “Smooth Muscle Actin-Negative Fibroblasts Alter Cardiac Conduction via Cx45 Coupling with Myocytes”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

11)  Badie, N., Bursac, N. “Micropatterned Ventricular Slice: Role of Realistic Tissue Microstructure in Impulse Conduction”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

12)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “Reproducible In Vitro Assays to Study Functional Interactions of Stem Cells and Cardiomyocytes”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

13)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “Engineering 2-D and 3-D Cardiac Muscle Tissues Based on MRI-measured Cardiac Fiber Directions”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

14)  Tranquillo, J.V., Badie, N., Bursac, N. “Negative Curvature as a Mechanism of the Multi-wave Reentry Acceleration”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

15)  Liau, I-C., Liu, J.B., Bursac, N., Leong, K.W. (2008) “Effect of Electromechanical Stimulation on the Maturation of Myotubes on Aligned Electrospun Fibers”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, St. Louis, MO, 2008.

16)  Christoforou, N., Oskouei, B.N., Hill, C.M., Bian, W., Bursac, N., Leong, K.W., Hare, J., Gearhart, J.D. “Engraftment, Differentiation and Functional Improvement of Cardiac Output Following Transplantation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell-derived Cardiac Progenitor Cells in the Infarcted Myocardium”, International Society for Stem Cell Research Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2008.

17)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Micromolded 3D Cardiac Network Patches with Controllable Anisotropy for Cardiac Repair”, American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, 2007.

18)  Pedrotty, DM., Klinger, R., Bursac, N. “Paracrine Factors from Cardiac Fibroblasts Slow Conduction Velocity and Prolong the Action Potential Duration of Cardiomyocytes”, American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, 2007.

19)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Micromolding of a Functional Cardiac Patch for Heart Repair”, NIH Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine, Bethesda, MD, 2007.

20)  Scull, J., Bursac, N. “Novel Method for Simultaneous Optical Mapping of Vm and [Ca2+]i in Cardiac Monolayers”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2007.

21)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Micromolded Aligned Skeletal Muscle Tissue Networks”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2007.

22)  Pedrotty, DM., Kardashian AA, Badie N, Klinger RY, Bursac N. “Cardiac and Donor Cell Interactions in Micropatterned Cell Pairs”, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2007.

23)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Micromolding of a 3D Cardiac Network Patch with Controllable Anisotropy”, Biomedical Engineering Society meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2007.

24)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER) “Design of 2-D and 3-D Cardiac Tissues with Controllable Architecture and Function", Gordon’s Research Conference on Cardiac Arrhythmia Mechanisms, Ventura, CA, 2007.

25)  Bian, W., Bursac, N. “Aligned Skeletal Muscle Tissue Networks with Controllable Porosity and Thickness Engineered by 3D Hydrogel Micromolding”, 11th annual Hilton Head workshop on tissue engineering, Hilton Head, SC, 2007.

26)  Badie, N., Bursac, N. “Micropatterned Heart Slice Cultures for Studies of Intramural Cardiac Electrophysiology”, AHA Scientific Sessions, Chicago, IL, 2006.

27)  McSpadden, L., Yim, E., Leong, K., Bursac, N. “Tissue Engineered 2-Dimensional Model of Cardiac Fibrosis”, BMES annual fall meeting, Chicago, IL, 2006.

28)  Holden, M.L., Ying, Y., Bursac, N., Henriquez, C. “Large-Scale Modeling of Discrete Neonatal Cardiac Tissue Using a Variable Spatial Grid”, BMES annual fall meeting, Chicago, IL, 2006.

29)  Badie, N., Jiang, Y., Hsu, E., Bursac, N. “Tissue Engineered Two-Dimensional Heart Slice”, BMES annual fall meeting, Chicago, IL, 2006.

30)  Tranquillo, J., Bursac, N. “The Role of Restitution in Pacing Induced Spiral Wave Acceleration”, IEEE EMBS meeting, New York, NY, 2006.

31)  Pedrotty, D., McSpadden, L., and Bursac, N. “Paracrine Factors from Stem Cells Improve Electrical Conduction in Cardiac Tissue”, AHA scientific sessions, Dallas, TX, 2005.

32)  Pedrotty, D., Weining, B., and Bursac, N. “Cellular Cardiomyoplasty: Investigating Direct Functional Interactions Between Host and Donor Cells”, North Carolina Tissue Engineering Interest Group, Raleigh, Durham, NC, 2005.

33)  Ko, K., McSpadden, L., Scull, J., Badie, N., Bursac, N. “In Vitro Model for Infarct Scar: Optical Mapping of Impulse Propagation”, BMES annual fall meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2005.

34)  Tranquillo, J., Grant, A.O., Zhang, Z.S., Bursac, N. “DK1479 and DK1500 Mutations Result in Brugada Syndrome”, BMES annual fall meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2005.

35)  Tranquillo, J., Capone, A., Bursac, N. “The Role of Restitution and Ion Currents in the Acceleration of Functional Reentry”, BMES annual fall meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2005.

36)  Wang, T., Bursac, N. “Engineering a 3-dimensionsal Cardiac Tissue Construct with Controlled Anisotropy”, BMES annual fall meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2005.

37)  Pedrotty, D., McSpadden, L., Scull, J., Bursac, N. “Cellular Cardiomyoplasty: Investigating Functional Interactions between Host and Donor Cells”, BMES annual fall meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2005.

38)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Tranquillo, J. “Experimental and Computational Studies on Complex Spiral Waves in 2-D Cardiac Substrates”, American Physics Society annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2005.

39)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Aguel, F., Tung, L. “Accelerated Spirals in 2-Dimensional Cultures of Cardiac Myocytes”, Conference on oscillations and waves in cells and cell networks, Cargese, France, 2004.

40)  Bursac, N. (PRESENTER), Loo, Y., Irby, M.E., Leong, K., Tung, L. “Electrophysiological Studies in Anisotropic 3D Cardiac Cultures”, NASPE conference, Washington DC, 2003.

41)  Kong, C.R., Bursac, N., Tung, L. “Mechanoelectrical Excitation in Cultured Monolayers of Cardiac Cells, NASPE conference, Washington DC, 2003.

42)  Sathaye, A., Bursac, N., Sheehy, S., Tung, L. “Long Term Pacing Induces Action Potential and Wavelength Prolongation in Cultured Neonatal Rat Ventricular Cell Monolayers”, NASPE conference, Washington DC, 2003.

43)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Tung, L. “Novel Stable Functional Reentry Patterns Induced by Rapid Pacing in Uniformly Anisotropic Cardiomyocyte Cultures”, AHA scientific sessions, Chicago, 2002.

44)  Tung, L., Kong C., Bursac, N., Fasciano, R.W., Riemer, T.L. “Mechanically Induced Changes in Excitability and Arrhythmogenesis”, 3rd International Workshop on Cardiac Mechano-Electric Feedback and Arrhythmias, Oxford, Great Britain, 2002.

45)  Bursac N. (SPEAKER), Loo, Y., Irby, M.E., Leong, K., Tung, L. “Polymer Scaffolds for Anisotropic Growth of Engineered Cardiac Tissue”, Southern BMES conference, Washington DC, 2002.

46)  Kong C, Parker K.K, Sathaye, A., Bursac, N., Entcheva, E., Tung L. “2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) alters wavefront propagation and functional anisotropy in micropatterned neonatal rat cardiac myocytes”, Southern BMES conference, Washington DC, 2002.

47)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Iravanian, S., Parker, K., Tung, L. “Anisotropic Reentry in Cultured Cardiac Myocytes”, Finalist presentation Young Investigator Award competition, NASPE conference, San Diego, CA, 2002.

48)  Iravanian, S., Nabutovsky, Y., Bursac, N., Sumita, S., Tung, L. “Optical Maps of Reentrant Activity in Cultured Monolayers of Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes “, AHA scientific sessions, Anahaim, CA, 2001.

49)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Iravanian, S., Tung, L. “Anisotropic Cultures of Cardiac Myocytes”, BMES Annual fall meeting, Durham, NC, 2001.

50)  Iravanian, S., Nabutovsky, Y., Bursac, N., Sumita, S., Tung, L. “Contact Fluorescence Imaging of Reentry in Cultured Monolayers of Neonatal Rat Cardiac Cells”, BMES Annual fall meeting, Durham, 2001.

51)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Papadaki, M., White, J.A., Eisenberg, S.R., Freed, L.E. “Use of Engineered 3-D Cardiac Tissue to Study Electrophysiology of Cardiac Muscle”, BMES Annual fall meeting, Seattle, WA, 2000.

52)  Bursac, N. (PRESENTER), Papadaki, M., White, J.A., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Eisenberg, S.R., Freed, L.E. “Engineered Cardiac Tissues: A Novel Model System for In Vitro Studies of Cardiac Muscle”, poster presentation, Science Day, Boston University, Boston, MA, 2000.

53)  Aljuri, A.N., Bursac, N., Marini, R., Cohen, RJ. “System Identification of Dynamic Closed-loop Control of Total Peripheral Resistance by Arterial and Cardiopulmonary Baroreceptors”, 13th Humans in Space Symposium, IAA and GASMA, Fira, Santorini, Greece, 2000.

54)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Papadaki, M., Langer, R., Eisenberg, S.R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Three-dimensional Environment Promotes in Vitro Differentiation of Cardiac Myocytes”, BMES-EMBS 1st joint conference, Atlanta, GA, 1999.

55)  Papadaki, M., Bursac N., Gupta, P., Langer, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Towards a Functional Tissue Engineered Cardiac Muscle”, BMES-EMBS 1st joint conference, Atlanta, GA, 1999.

56)  Papadaki, M., Bursac, N., Langer, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Towards a Functional Tissue Engineered Cardiac Muscle: Effects of Cell Culture Substrate and Medium Concentration”, Annual meeting for the Society of Biomaterials, Providence, RI, 1999.

57)  Bursac, N. (SPEAKER), Papadaki, M., Cohen, R.J., Schoen, F.J., Eisenberg, S.R., Carrier, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Cardiac Muscle Tissue Engineering: An Electrophysiological Study", BMES annual fall meeting, Cleveland, OH, 1998.

58)  Papadaki M., Bursac, N., Langer, R., Schoen, F.J., Carrier, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. "Engineered Three-dimensional Cardiac Muscle: Structural, Biochemical and Functional Assessment", American Institute for Chemical Engineers Meeting, Miami, FL, 1998.

59)  Carrier, R.L., Bursac N., Papadaki, M., Langer, R., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Bioreactor Design Affects the Structural, Biochemical, and Metabolic Properties of Engineered Cardiac Tissue”, American Institute for Chemical Engineers Meeting, Miami, FL, 1998.

60)  Papadaki M., Bursac, N., Langer, R., Schoen, F.J., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. "In Vitro Reconstitution of Three-dimensional Cardiac Muscle: Composition and Functional Evaluation", North Sea Biomaterials Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands, 1998.

61)  Carrier, R.L., Papadaki, M., Bursac N., Langer, R., Rupnick, M., Schoen, F.J., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Freed, L.E. “Investigation of the Influence of Bioreactor Design on the Structural, Biochemical, and Metabolic Properties of Engineered Cardiac Muscle”, American Institute for Chemical Engineers Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 1997.

62)  Freed, L.E., Bursac, N., Carrier, R., Martin, I., Papadaki, M., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., "Three-dimensional Cultures of Skeletal and Cardiac-Like Tissues", American Society for Cell Biology Meeting, 1997.

63)  Carrier, R.L., Bursac N., Vunjak-Novakovic, G., Langer, R., Rupnick, M., Freed, L.E. “Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Influence of Cell Source and Bioreactor Conditions”, World Congress of the International Society for Artificial Organs, Providence, RI, 1997.

64)  Van Toi V, Abraham H, Bursac N. “Post-LSD Hallucinosis Is Associated with Decrease in Flicker-Fusion Sensitivities”, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (supp), 37(3):3300, 1996.