Dr. Peter I. Lelkes
Calhoun Chair Professor of Cellular Tissue Engineering
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems
Focus Area: Tissue Scaffold Technology

Dr. Peter Lelkes joined the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems in the fall of 2001 as Calhoun Chair Professor of Cellular Tissue Engineering, following 12 years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School.

An expert in generating cells and growing cultured cells into tissue, Dr. Lelkes and his co-workers and students have conducted essential research in generating tissue in bioreactors under conditions that simulate microgravity. Their experiments also flew aboard MIR space station missions.

Dr. Lelkes recently discovered that the effects of microgravity are felt even at the level of individual cells. It was originally believed that cells could only grow or react when acted upon by gravity. His findings have been published in prominent peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Medicine and American Journal of Physiology.

A new set of Dr. Lelkes' experiments were among the first scientific studies to be conducted on the International Space Station. He has found that there are attractive advantages to growing tissue in microgravity. The tissue cells are exposed to less stress and they aggregate together more readily. Microgravity conditions will not produce tissue faster than under normal conditions, but they will produce optimal results.

Dr. Lelkes' studies will help eventually to cure patients who suffer from chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders. There are thousands of patients who desperately need transplants, and this research will benefit those who must wait years or never receive needed transplants.

Dr. Lelkes and six Drexel faculty members are collaborating to continue his ongoing studies. His research collaboration includes researchers from Drexel's College of Medicine and regional companies involved in microgravity tissue engineering.