• Adrian West headshot
  • Assistant professor

    Max Rady College of Medicine
    Physiology and Pathophysiology
    Room 606A – John Buhler Research Centre
    715 McDermot Avenue
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3P4

    Phone: 204-789-3603
    adrian.west@umanitoba.ca

Cross appointment

Keywords

  • 3D bioprinting
  • Tissue engineering
  • Asthma
  • Cardiac disease
  • Developmental origins of disease
  • Smooth muscle
  • Skeletal muscle
  • Cardiac muscle

Research affiliations

  • Research scientist, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)

Research groups

  • Biology of Breathing (BoB) Research Theme
  • Aspect Biosystems Discovery Ecosystem

Research summary

The long-term goal of Dr. Adrian West’s research program is to develop novel bioengineering technologies to create physiologically relevant experimental models of complex tissues. These technologies underpin ongoing fundamental research into how the mechanical environment modulates basic cellular processes, and how this manifests functionally at the tissue and organ level. Most notably, the laboratory uses three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting to create functional muscle tissue from cultured human and animal muscle cells. This 3D bioprinted muscle behaves just like a real muscle in the body. Through an academic-industrial partnership with Aspect Biosystems and a network of academic collaborators, uptake of these technologies is also fueling collaborative projects with significant commercial and biomedical research potential.

Biography

Dr. Adrian West was trained in ‘classic’ physiology at the University of Western Australia, using traditional cell culture and organ bath techniques to study how mechanical strain regulates force development in airway smooth muscle. Realizing that engineers get to play with the coolest toys, Adrian undertook his second postdoc in biomedical engineering at Dalhousie University, where he used novel three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering techniques to study how changes in tissue stiffness might contribute to airway smooth muscle contraction in asthma. At UM, Adrian’s independent research program now uses 3D bioprinting technology to create highly accessible and physiologically-relevant experimental models of multiple muscle tissues. A particular focus is placed on how the extracellular matrix, fibroblasts and abnormal developmental conditions modulate contractile function in health and disease.

Education

  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship (biomedical engineering), Dalhousie University (2009-2013)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship (physiology), University of Western Australia (2007-2009)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (physiology), University of Western Australia (2001-2006)
  • Bachelor of Science (honours, physiology), University of Western Australia (1997-2001)

Awards

  • ‘Inspiration’ Teaching Award, Class of 2023 Manitoba Medical Students Association (2021)
  • Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, American Physiological Society (2013)
  • Community Builder Prize (Outstanding Leadership), Dalhousie School of Biomedical Engineering (2011)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Rx&D Partnership, (2010-2012)
  • Postdoctoral Research Award, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (2010-2011)
  • Research Skills Award, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (2009)
  • Australia Postgraduate Award, Australian Government (2002-2006)

Contact us

Physiology and Pathophysiology
432 Basic Medical Sciences Building
745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada

204-789-3696
204-789-3934