Dr. Lijie Grace Zhang, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and biomedical engineering and medicine at George Washington University, will visit Louisiana Tech University on March 13 as part of the New Frontiers in Biomedical Research lecture series. Zhang’s presentation titled, “Integrating 3-D Bioprinting and Nanomaterials for Complex Tissue Regeneration,” will take place at 3:30 p.m. in University Hall on the Louisiana Tech campus.  The event is free and members of the campus and local community are cordially invited to attend. Zhang and her lab at George Washington apply a range of interdisciplinary technologies and approaches in nanotechnology, stem cells, tissue engineering, biomaterials and drug delivery for various biomedical applications.  Specifically, her lab is interested in designing nanostructured scaffolds tissue regeneration, studying the influence of environment on directing stem cell differentiation and developing sustained drug release systems for the treatment of cancer. Zhang has earned a number of awards including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award, Young Innovator in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Award, and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.  She also has an impressive publication record and a history of mentoring students and postdocs. Most recently, Zhang published a book titled, “3-D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine,” with co-authors, Drs. John Fisher and Kam Long, and was a featured speaker at the 2016 Experimental Biology meeting.  She earned her Ph.D. from Brown University and completed a postdoc at Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty at George Washington. Developed by Dr. Jamie Newman, assistant professor in Louisiana Tech’s School of Biological Sciences, and jointly organized by Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, the New Frontiers in Biomedical Research series has brought many internationally known research leaders to Louisiana Tech and is now in its fourth year.  The series focuses on biomedical research with the intent of demonstrating the broad and interdisciplinary nature of this field of research. Zhang’s presentation is sponsored by sponsored by Louisiana Tech’s College of Applied and Natural Science and the School of Biological Sciences. All 2016-2017 New Frontiers in Biomedical Research seminars are free and open to the public. Seminars begin at 3:30 p.m. at University Hall on the Louisiana Tech campus and are recorded for future viewing. For more information on the series, a schedule of speakers, and to view recordings of the seminars, visit the New Frontiers in Biomedical Research website at http://biomedicalresearch.wix.com/new-frontiers or contact Dr. Jamie Newman at jjnewman@latech.edu.