Kuhn, Liisa

Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Email lkuhn@uchc.edu
Phone 860-679-3922
Mailing Address UConn Health Center 263 Farmington Ave., MC 1721 Farmington, CT 06030
Campus Farmington
Google Scholar Link

Brief Bio

Dr. Kuhn’s laboratory works at the interface of materials science and medicine, and her research spans fundamental studies to translational research and clinical use. She has an expertise in biomaterials and drug delivery and bone regeneration that she gained while working in industry and at UConn Health. She is funded by the National Institutes of Health to develop customized bone grafts for older patients that include controlled release of anti-senescence drugs to rejuvenate bone healing in the elderly. She is Director of the Beekley Lab for Biosymmetrix since Spring 2021, which provides 3D printed personalized breast prostheses for breast cancer survivors. Dr Kuhn is grateful for the funding from the Connecticut Breast Health Initiative and the Beekley Family Foundation for the breast prosthetic project.

Dr. Kuhn and the clinicians at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center are working together to provide improved prosthetics for women that have undergone mastectomy without reconstruction. The prosthetics are produced in the Beekley Lab for Biosymmetrix at UConn Health and are available free of charge at this time (2024).

  • Design of implantable drug delivery systems for localized, controlled release of therapeutics.
  • 3D Bioprinting custom devices for cancer patients.
  • Medical product standards writing for the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Project 1:  Increasing the rate of bone repair in elderly women through pre-clinical testing of anti-aging drugs delivered by modified bone graft materials. With NIH R01 funding, Professor Kuhn is testing promising therapeutic compounds in aged mouse models of bone injury and repair to identify those that optimize rapid repair of bone defects in craniofacial injuries.

Project 2:  Improving the outcomes for adolescents that have broken bones which involve the growth plate and lead to limb shortening and malformation. Professor Kuhn has developed a mouse model for growth plate injuries that uses transgenic mice with fluorescent collagen reporters that allows her to discriminate between promising therapeutics for cartilage repair after growth plate injury. She is collaborating with Professor Yupeng Chen from UConn Storrs on this project.

Project 3:  Increasing the self-confidence, comfort, and appearance of breast cancer survivors through 3D-printed breast prosthetics. Customized prosthetics made of a silicone mesh provide unprecedented comfort and customization.

Project 4:  Esophageal repair device. Together with Dr. Christine Finck, MD (Connecticut Children’s Medical Center), Professor Kuhn has co-founded Esophadex, Inc and is raising capital to support the development of a 4-in-1 esophageal repair device that will eliminate the multiple surgeries with anesthesia in children under 5 years old with esophageal malformation or injury.

Dr. Liisa Kuhn trains the next generation of scientists by advising undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees and giving lectures in her own courses and others. She developed and taught the UConn School of Engineering Biomedical Engineering core course called BME 4710/5700 Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering for nearly a decade and then transitioned to teaching Controlling Stem Cells with Biomaterials (BME 4985-003/BME 6086-004). For the last four years, she serves as the course director of Dental Materials, a required core course for all third-year dental students at the UConn Health School of Dental Medicine.

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

  • Biomaterials
    Kuhn LT and Tang-Schomer M Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, 4th edition 2023 Dec;
  • Chapter 3.1.8: Role of Standards for Testing and Performance Requirements of Biomaterials
    Wagner W, Sakiyama-Elbert S, and Zhang G Biomaterials Science, An Introduction to Materials in Medicine, 4th edition 2020 Dec;
  • Chapter 65: Dental implant guided bone tissue engineering.
    Wen B, Freilich M, and Kuhn LT. Stem Cell Biology and Tissue Engineering in Dental Sciences 2015 Dec;
  • Chapter 14: Evaluation of bio-inspired materials for mineralized tissue regeneration using type I collagen reporter cells.
    Kuhn LT, Jacobs E, and Goldberg AJ. Bio-Inspired Materials for Biomedical Engineering 2014 Dec;
  • Chapter 5: Biomaterials.
    Kuhn LT and Goldberg AJ. Regenerative Engineering 2013 Dec;
  • Chapter 5: Biomaterials.
    Kuhn LT. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, 3rd Edition 2012 Dec;
  • Chapter 6: Biomaterials.
    Kuhn LT. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering 2005 Dec;
  • Chapter 8: Bone mineralization.
    Kuhn LT. Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology 2001 Dec;787-794
  • Biomimetic Processing of Ceramics.
    Kuhn-Spearing LT and Heuer AH. Encyclopedia of Applied Physics 1999 Dec;27-45
  • Biomimetic strategies and materials processing.
    Kuhn LT, Fink DJ, and Heuer AH. Biomimetic Approaches in Materials Science 1995 Dec;41-68

Abstracts

  • Calcium phosphate/polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings for sequential delivery of multiple growth factors.
    Jacobs E, Hurley M, Gronowicz G, and Kuhn LT. Frontiers Bioeng Biotechnol. Conference Abstract, 10th World Biomaterials Congress 2016 May;
  • Visual monitoring of osteoblast progenitor cell differentiation on dewetted PLA thin films.
    Lakhman R, O’Brien K, Kasi R, Weiss RA, Kuhn LT, and Goldberg AJ. Materials Research Society 2011 Apr;
  • Advanced micro- and nanofabrication technologies for tissue engineering.
    Shapira A, Kim DH, and Dvir T. Biofabrication 2011 Jan;6(2):020301
  • Substantial mouse bone repair by osteo-chondrogenic progenitors derived from hESCs.
    Liu Y, Boyd NL, Dennis JE, Goldberg AJ, Stice SL, and Kuhn LT. Regenerative Medicine:Innovations for Clinical Applications 2011 Jan;
  • Substantial mouse calvarial bone defect healing by human embryonic stem cells.
    Kuhn LT, Liu Y, Boyd N, Dennis J, Aguila HL, and Goldberg AJ. StemCONN 2011 2011 Jan;
  • Substantial mouse calvarial bone defect healing by human embryonic stem cells.
    Kuhn LT, Liu Y, Boyd NL, Dennis J, Aguila H, Lichtler A, and Goldberg AJ. Orthopedic Research Society 2011 Jan;
  • Varying PLA functionality and texture to influence osteoprogenitors.
    Lakhman R, O’Brien K, Kasi R, Weiss RA, Kuhn LT, Mina M, and Goldberg AJ. Academy of Dental Materials 2010 Oct;
  • Non-physiological mineral deposition in vitro by primary human osteoblasts under osteogenic conditions.
    Charles LF, Woodman JL, Goldberg AJ, Gronowicz GA, and Kuhn LT. Proceedings of the IEEE 36th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference 2010 Mar;
  • Osteogenesis by hESCs after cell culture on fibrillar Type I collagen coatings.
    Liu Y, Goldberg AJ, Elliott JT, Plant AL, and Kuhn LT. Proceedings of the IEEE 36th Northeast Bioengineering Conference 2010 Mar;
  • Fibrillar collagen thin films promote early osteogenesis.
    Liu Y, Goldberg AJ, Maye PF, Advincula M, and Kuhn LT. American Association for Dental Research Annual Meeting 2010 Jan;
  • Variance of Extracel hydrogel compositions and the osteogenic effects on GFP-reporter preosteoblasts.
    Liu, Y.; Goldberg, A.J. and Kuhn L.T. Society for Biomaterials 2010 Jan;
  • Biomimetic method for coating tissue culture polystyrene with carbonated hydroxyapaptite.
    Kuhn LT, Advincula MC, Liu Y, Gronowicz G, Habibovic P, and Goldberg AJ. J Dent Res 2009 Apr;88
  • Reduction of chemotherapy side effects and targeted inhibition of lymph node metastasis with a calcium phosphate nanoparticle delivery vehicle. 31st Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, San Antonio, TX. Dec 10-14, 2008.
    Kuhn L, Wen B, and Piteo P. Cancer Research 2009 Jan;69(2 Supplement):2135
  • Differential effects of fibrillar and non-fibrillar collagens on osteogenesis of GFP-reporter preosteoblasts.
    Liu Y, Advincula M, Goldberg AJ, and Kuhn LT. New England Musculoskeletal Institute Research Day 2009 Jan;
  • Fluorescent quantification of osteogenesis of GFP-transgenic mouse calvarial osteoblasts on biomimetic coatings.
    Liu Y, Advincula M, Wang YH, Goldberg AJ, and Kuhn LT. Society for Biomaterials 2009 Jan;
  • Fluorescent quantification of osteogenesis using GFP-transgenic mouse reporter cell technology.
    Kuhn LT, Goldberg AJ, Liu Y, and Rowe DW. Regenerative Medicine-Advancing Next Generation Therapies 2009 Jan;
  • Quantitative evaluation of supracrestal bone growth around dental implants. International Association for Dental Research Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. July 2-5, 2008.
    Kuhn LT, Wen B, Obrecht M, Stauber M, Jorgenson K, Shafer D, and Freilich M. J Dent Res 2008 Jul;87(Spec Iss B):

Conference Papers

  • Calcium phosphate: carrier for therapeutic agents.
    Lee D, Tofighi A, Kuhn LT, and Rey C. 123-190
  • Carbonated apatite nanocrystals from bone in synthesis and processing of nanocrystalline powder.
    Kuhn-Spearing LT, Rey C, Kim H-M, and Glimcher MJ. 57-68
  • Chemoradiotherapy of ME-180 tumors with an intratumoral cisplatin/calcium phosphate drug delivery system.
    Santiago F, Campbell S, Dowsett R, and Kuhn LT. Proceedings of the IEEE 32nd Northeast Bioengineering Conference 2006189-190
  • Constitutive models for the deformation of powder compacts in computational and numerical techniques.
    Kuhn LT, Xu J, and McMeeking RM.
  • Eggshell assembly - a model for biomimetic ceramic production in quality of poultry products.
    Fink DJ, Kuhn LT, Caplan AI, and Heuer AH. A1-A6
  • Evaluation of lymphatic metastasis using calcium phosphate/cisplatin nanoconjugates.
    Piteo P, Wen B, and Kuhn LT.
  • Improvement of alveolar bone height using novel graft placement.
    Freilich MA, Wei M, Iddir S, Kuhn LT, and Shafer DM. 284-286, 889-892
  • Modelling powder consolidation.
    Kuhn LT, McMeeking RM, and Lange FF. 331-338
  • Osteoinductive composites of calcium phosphate cement and demineralized bone matrix. Poster 1429.
    Rosenberg AD, Kuhn LT, Gilles de Pelichy L, and Jolette J. 32

Editorials

Erratums

Letters