Tissue Engineering for Life Planetarium Show

Project Overview

The Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, Inc. (PTEI) is developing a unique educational program focusing on Tissue Engineering and its applications. The centerpiece of the project is an innovative planetarium show - Tissue Engineering for Life - bringing together technology and the arts, and communicating information about tissue engineering in a stunning new way.

The development of this project was spurred by increasing popular interest in tissue engineering and how it will revolutionize the healing of diseased and damaged tissue. The goal of the project is to present current information to students and the general public about the functions of the body and related tissue engineering technologies. The project will also lay a foundation upon which the rapid biomedical discoveries of the present and future will be more understandable. The resulting show will define tissue engineering and communicate facts about this emerging discipline, informing the public on the relevance of tissue engineering for them.

A multi-institutional team, coordinated by PTEI, has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop Tissue Engineering for Life and the accompanying curriculum materials and outreach program. This $1.62 million Science Education Partnership Award is the largest ever given by the NIH for informal science education. It was made through the National Center for Research Resources, which encourages synergistic collaborations among teaching centers. Additional funding was recently received from The Emil Winter Family Fund, Susannah Ziegler Memorial Fund, and The Lois Tack Thompson Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Tissue Engineering for Life will build on the success of two previous government-funded planetarium shows, Journey into the Living Cell and Gray Matters: The Brain Movie, which utilized the expertise of many of the same groups involved with Tissue Engineering for Life.

PTEI's production partners in this project are: •Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium of the Carnegie Science Center•STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University•Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University•Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology, Carnegie Mellon University•Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh•BioImaging Laboratories, University of Pittsburgh •Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, a joint Carnegie Mellon University/University of Pittsburgh effort

The Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show will debut at the Carnegie Science Center’s Buhl Planetarium in the Winter of 2002 before being distributed to other planetaria. We anticipate that well over 1 million young people and their families will see the planetarium show in the first two years. In addition, the project’s five-year timeline includes development of curriculum materials for use in classrooms, an outreach program for K-12 students, and web-based delivery of educational content for all age groups.

P T E I

The Creative Team

Pittsburgh, in general, and Carnegie Mellon University, in particular, are at the forefront of encouraging and implementing collaborations among artists, scientists, and technologists. We intend to strategically utilize and extend this lead.

For the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show project, we have drawn together veterans of the two previous shows - Daniel Farkas, John Pollock, Patricia Maurides, and Roger Dannenberg - and have attracted new artists, such as Robert Hoggard and animators Adrian Herbez and Joseph Hocking. (Biosketches of key team members are enclosed.)

The key members of the creative/artistic team for the show project are members of the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. The STUDIO, founded in 1989, supports experimental and cross-disciplinary work in the arts. It carries out this mission by providing artists with unique facilities. The STUDIO also maintains a work environment populated by a broad range of practitioners, including resident fellows, Carnegie Mellon University faculty and students, and other associates. These individuals come from backgrounds as diverse as robotics, physics, computer science, engineering, medicine, music, theater, dance, and the visual arts. The STUDIO facilitates access to human and technical resources at Carnegie Mellon University and throughout the Pittsburgh community. The central philosophy of the STUDIO is to foster collaborative and experimental arts - challenging the artists to explore new areas. The Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show project has grown out of a tradition of STUDIO collaborative projects, being the third in a series of planetarium/movie shows created for young people and the general public on topics of biology and medicine. The first show, Journey into the Living Cell, was released in 1996, the second, Gray Matters: The Brain Movie, was released in 2000.

A New Fusion of Arts and Sciences

The main focus of both the visual arts and tissue engineering is the human body. Our show will use this correspondence to forge a fresh fusion of the arts and sciences for conveying its message, inextricably linking content and delivery.

Mr. Hoggard is the show's principal artist, working closely with show director John Pollock and the team of animators to generate a new way of viewing the human body as a living, three-dimensionally moving artistic rendering. The body view being created by our team will not only show the beauty and vitality of the body as an artistic form, but it will also serve as a guide to the various tissues and organs that we discuss in the context of tissue engineering and the future of medicine. One hallmark of the collaborative process is the goal to create images with biological detail and accuracy that are as real and rich as life itself. These images, originating in traditional drawing and painting, but achieving final expression in striking three-dimensional computer graphic animation, carry as much artistry as science and are thus open to discussion using language and messages that are age-appropriate. Without this scientific accuracy of rendering biomedical detail, the images could look like any other mundane computer animation seen on TV. Without the artistry, they would look like any medical textbook view of a cadaver or tissue biopsy. Instead, the visualization team creates a new artistry.

To match the imagery seen on screen, Roger Dannenberg will create an original sound track. Dr. Dannenberg has a keen sense of sound, music voice, and special effects. With training in computer science, robotics, and music, he brings an added dimension to the project.

Project Timeline

Year One of the project was recently completed with funding from the NIH and PTEI. The production team for the planetarium show has been assembled. The concept board for the planetarium show has been completed. Storyboards with script treatment for the introduction and the first two modules are under development.

Activities in Year Two of the project will include:•Pre- and post-production of a preview version of the planetarium show to be shown at the March

2002 Engineering Tissue Growth International Conference and Exposition in Pittsburgh and the April 2002 Pittsburgh International Science and Technology Festival. These previews will allow feedback from scientists, teachers, and students that will be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the planetarium show and make modifications, if necessary, before the show opens to the public.

•Pre- and post-production of the debut version of the planetarium show to be presented to the general public in the Fall of 2002 at the Buhl Planetarium. Modules scheduled to be completed on bone, spinal cord, and cardiac tissue engineering, as well as the introduction, will constitute the nucleus of a show that will eventually become modular.

•A website to provide the public with information on the project, including an educational outreach section.

Approach

We are fully aware that the value and impact of the show is critically dependent on the quality of the delivery method of the information. This realization directed us to the difficult medium of the planetarium environment, with its group-immersive visualization capabilities. However, it also necessitates elevating the artistic component beyond what can be achieved solely by computer-based technologies. Thus, we aimed at and succeeded in recruiting highly talented artists at all levels who also have a background and understanding of technology and science, and who could not only translate into artistic terms the important message we would like to convey, but also have original contributions to the build-up of the planetarium show. This new kind of dialogue should yield a new type of synthesis and educational approach.

Contact Information

For further information on the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show project, please do not hesitate to contact:

Daniel L. Farkas, Ph.D., Project Principal InvestigatorAssociate Director, Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, Inc.310-423-7746; farkasd@cshs.org

John A. Pollock, Ph.D., Project Co-Principal InvestigatorAssociate Professor of Biology, Duquesne UniversityResearch Fellow, STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University412-855-4043; jp4o@andrew.cmu.edu

Patrick M. Cantini, Project Administrator412-235-5128; pcantini@ptei.org

Biosketches of Creative Team Key Personnel

Roger Dannenberg is a Senior Research Computer Scientist on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, where he received a Ph.D. in 1982. He is also a fellow in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry in the College of Fine Arts, and is internationally known for his research in the field of computer music. His current work includes research on computer accompaniment of live musicians, interactive media, high-level languages for sound synthesis, and computer support of curriculum design. Dr. Dannenberg also is a trumpet player and composer, and he has performed in concert halls ranging from the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem to the modern Éspace de Projection at IRCAM in Paris. His most recent musical efforts involve real-time computer graphics and computer music systems that interact with live musicians. Dr. Dannenberg also contributed original sound effects and music for the two previous planetarium shows, Journey into the Living Cell and Gray Matters: The Brain Movie.

Daniel Farkas is Associate Director of Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health grant for the overall educational project, and executive producer of the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show. He initiated the genre by proposing and coordinating the first such show, Journey into the Living Cell. Dr. Farkas is Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, and Scientific Director of the Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology (CLMIB), a National Science and Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. He holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Weizmann Institute in Israel, where he received a number of honors (EMBO and UNESCO fellowships, G.Y. Yashinsky and Aharon Katchalsky-Katzir awards). He came to the United States as a Fulbright scholar (also holding a Dr. Chaim Weizmann postdoctoral fellowship), and later joined Carnegie Mellon University, becoming Director of the CLMIB that won the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Science. Dr. Farkas’ scientific interests center on the investigation of the living state with light, for uses in biology, biotechnology, bioengineering and medicine. Optical bioimaging is the main technology area currently pursued in his labs, application fields ranging from molecular and developmental biology to cancer research, transplantation immunology, neurosciences and tissue engineering. Dr. Farkas has chaired a dozen international conferences, and has taught in five languages, on subjects ranging from science to medicine, ethics, cinema, and philosophy.

Laura Lynn Gonzalez provides biologically accurate animations for the Tissue Engineering For Life planetarium show. She is currently a Staff Fellow and Animation Artist in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. Ms. Gonzalez graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University in May of 2002, and concentrated her studies in the fields of Biological Sciences and Fine Arts. During her time at Carnegie Mellon she completed several production quality character animations independently along with several molecularly accurate biological animations for Dr. Peter Berget of the Biology Department. She was accepted into the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) to produce biological animations in 2000, and completed an independent study in 2001, researching the role of imagery in education throughout the ages..

Christine A. Hardtman uses her background in fine arts to design three-dimensional, biological environments as an animator for the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002, concentrating in electronic and time based media. Ms. Hardtman is a Staff Fellow and Animation Artist in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. While studying at Carnegie Mellon, she was Creative Director and co-founder of a computer software company, Ordia Corporation for whom she created the company face and designed the JBlurb® software interface. Past animation projects include building abstract three-dimensional environments derived from medical imagery for an interdisciplinary Small Undergraduate Research Grant (SURG) project in Spring 2002.

Joseph Hocking is a member of the animation team developing modules for the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biological science from Carnegie Mellon University. While studying at Carnegie Mellon, he also developed his skills in three-dimensional computer arts, creating several animation shorts and designing graphics for a number of projects, including computer games and virtual reality programs. He is also a Staff Fellow and Animation Artist in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.

Robert Hoggard, principal artist for this project, has been a figure artist and art educator for over thirty years. His work has been seen nationally since 1968. Mr. Hoggard received his professional training at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, and the Ringling School of Art, in Sarasota, Florida. A resident of Seattle, Washington, Mr. Hoggard, currently on faculty leave from the Cornish College of the Arts, is on staff at The Frye Art Museum and the Bellevue Art Museum as a Life Drawing Instructor. Mr. Hoggard also was a professional dancer for fourteen years, performing nationally and abroad with several companies including the Minnesota Dance Theatre, as well as Ballet Ulm, in West Germany. Mr. Hoggard is a Staff Fellow and Principal Artist in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.

Patricia Maurides advises on artistic direction for the Tissue Engineering for Life project. She currently serves as Director of the Bachelor of Humanities and Arts and Bachelor of Science and Arts Interdisciplinary Programs at Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon and a Research Fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. Ms. Maurides received her Master of Fine Arts in art from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of South Carolina. Before working on Tissue Engineering for Life, she was associate director of Gray Matters: the Brain Movie and research associate for Journey into the Living Cell, the previous interactive educational planetarium shows which premiered at the Carnegie Science Center’s Buhl Planetarium.

Leah Kauffman is the script writer for Tissue Engineering for Life. In addition to writing about science for general audiences for the past several years, she has directed hands-on educational programs in science and math for school children. Kauffman has a Bachelor's degree in history from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.

Christopho Graves works on video editing and production, non-3d animation, and sound design for Tissue Engineering for Life. He also worked on post-production for Gray Matters: The Brain Show, the last biology planetarium show premiered at the Carnegie Science Center. He is the guy everyone talks to at the end and collects everything together, sort of like the goalie in a soccer game. Graves graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2002, with a bachelor's of science degree in "Designing Intelligent Media," a major of his own design. Additionally, Graves involves himself in design and programming projects, builds sonic albums with friends and artwork to package them with, studies the workings of the world, eats, sleeps, laughs, and runs a recording label, Kracfive Records.

Adam N. Drobotij is a web designer and motion graphics artist for the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show. He designs, builds and maintains the show's website and the multimedia within. In addition, he assists in the editing and post-production of the show. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002, with a concentration in the electronic time-based arts, such as video and multimedia. Adam is currently a Staff Fellow in the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University and a Principal Designer at the Pittsburgh-based design firm, Crutch Design.

John Pollock is director of the Tissue Engineering for Life planetarium show, as well as co-principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health grant for the project. Before starting work on the tissue engineering show, Dr. Pollock worked on previous planetarium shows, including serving as co-director and science advisor for Gray Matters: The Brain Movie and science advisor for Journey into the Living Cell. Additionally, he has directed and animated six other films. Currently an Associate Professor of biology at Duquesne University and Research Fellow with the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Pollock has been an educator for decades at the collegiate level, as well as for high school and younger students. He teaches such subjects as neurobiology, developmental biology, light and electron microscopy, physics, calculus, astronomy, philosophy. Dr. Pollock has spent over 15 years as a principal investigator in basic science research investigating the development of the nervous system neural networks used for vision. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in physics, as well as his Doctor of Philosophy in biophysics, from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. He also received post-doctoral training at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

Dr. Alan J. Russell is Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/UPMC Health System. He is also Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering and is the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI).

Dr. Russell received his baccalaureate degree in Biochemistry and Applied Molecular Biology from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (United Kingdom) in 1984 and his doctorate in Biological Chemistry from Imperial College, the University of London, in 1987. After spending two years (1987 - 1989) as a NATO Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Alexander Klibanov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Russell joined the University of Pittsburgh as Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering. In 1995 he became Nikolas DeCecco Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. In 1999 Dr. Russell co-founded a now successful biotechnology company, Agentase LLC, and he became Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative. In 2001 Dr. Russell became the Founding Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery.

The mission of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine is to develop the capability to provide the premier facility for clinical care, teaching, and research in the broad arena of regenerative medicine. MIRM is developing cutting edge research at the University of Pittsburgh and innovative clinical programs within the UPMC Health System in areas such as organ and tissue engineering, artificial organs, and cellular and regenerative therapies. PTEI exists to propel Pittsburgh and the Southwestern Pennsylvania region to preeminence in tissue engineering through support of university-based research and education, and by pairing tissue engineering scientists with technology transfer opportunities to help them build our regional biotechnology enterprise. PTEI accomplishes its goals through a vision-driven, needs-based strategy consisting of: seed grant funding of research with clear potential commercial impact; sponsorship and vertical integration of educational programs directed at a wide range of experience levels; facilitating access to innovative technology transfer systems; and global dissemination of tissue engineering-related information via the internet and other media.

Dr. Russell's research has focused on the symbiotic interface between enzymes and materials, specifically biotechnological chemical weapon defense; the study of proteins in extreme environments; biocatalytic polymer synthesis; and the development of rational approaches to biomaterial syntheses for tissue engineering. His seminal work has been performed in the area of the decontamination of chemical weapons using enzymes. Collaborting with U.S. Army scientists, these approaches are expanding the possible defenses against chemical weapons.

Since the outset of his career, Dr. Russell has received numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to research, teaching and public service. Specific recognition includes: R&D 100; Carnegie Award for Excellence in Science and Technology; American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Fellow; Editorial Board, Journal Molecular Catalysis (Enzymatic), Encyclopedia of Catalysis and Biocatalysis & Biotransformations; American Cyanamid Research Award; Presidential Young Investigator, National Science Foundation; Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award; and Who's Who in America.

The Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, Inc. (PTEI) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the health of individuals by establishing the region as an internationally recognized center of excellence in research, education, and commercial development for the advancement of tissue-related medical therapies. PTEI accomplishes its goals by sponsoring research for the development of tissue-engineered products that will benefit large numbers of patients; providing educational outreach programs; and promoting regional, national, and international collaboration in the field of tissue engineering.

PTEI is the region’s premier source of professional and community education in the field of tissue engineering through educational outreach programs that include:

Biotechnology Exposure Program – This program has introduced more than 900 local primary and secondary students to the world of tissue engineering through tours of the laboratories of PTEI-affiliated researchers at Allegheny General Hospital, Carnegie Mellon University, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and UPMC Health System.

Teacher Education Program – This program introduces middle and high school science teachers to the world of biotechnology. Participants work in the laboratories of PTEI-affiliated researchers and develop curriculum materials for teaching their students and their peers about tissue engineering and biomedical research.

Summer Internship Program – More than 70 students have participated in this program, which provides 10-week internships in the laboratories of PTEI-affiliated researchers for undergraduate college students pursuing careers in medicine, biomedical research, bioengineering, and related fields.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Program – PTEI’s two-year postdoctoral fellowships provide individualized training that incorporates research and relevant course work at the region’s academic institutions.

Seminar Series – PTEI hosts seminars for scientists, students, physicians, biotechnology professionals, business people, university administrators, government officials, and other individuals interested in tissue engineering and biotechnology.

Tissue Engineering Planetarium Show – This program, scheduled to debut to the general public in the Fall of 2002, will produce an interactive, multi-media planetarium show on tissue engineering.