Jens O.M. Karlsson, PhD
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering | Villanova University
Villanova, PA, UNITED STATES
Jens Karlsson, PhD, specializes in biothermal sciences, including cryobiology (cooling) and hyperthermic processes (heating).
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Areas of Expertise (6)
Bioengineering
Biophysical Mechanisms
Cryopreservation
Cryosurgery
Hyperthermic Processes
Intracellular Ice Formation
Biography
Dr. Karlsson is a leading expert in the biothermal sciences. These include cryobiology (cooling) and hyperthermic processes (heating). Cryobiology investigates cryopreservation and cryosurgery. Cryopreservation is used in cell banking for many areas of biotechnology. It is also used for cell therapy (stem cells), in vitro fertilization, blood cell banking. Cryosurgery can be used to destroy certain cancerous cells. Hyperthermic processes include the treatment of burn injuries and fever. They also cover thermal ablation (removal), used in the treatment of cancers and in transdermal drug delivery.
Dr. Karlsson is a founding member of the Cellular & Molecular Bioengineering Research Group, and serves as Director of the College of Engineering Genomics Core Laboratory.
Education (3)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: SM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: SB
Select Media Appearances (4)
Closer to Cryopreservation: New Findings Could Overcome Obstacles to Freezing Human Tissues
Fox News online
2013-11-05
“If you can cryopreserve tissue or even organs, then you have a way of storing them and of transporting them,” senior author Dr. Jens Karlsson, of the department of mechanical engineering at Villanova University, told FoxNews.com. “Now if you want to do a (lung) transplantation, you’re rushing the harvest organ from one hospital to another by helicopter, and you only have a few hours to do it. But if you’re able to preserve the tissue, then you have as much time as you want and you can really find the best match for the tissue and transport it over much longer distances.”
Is Freezing the Key to Preserving Engineered Organs and Tissues?
WHYY online
2014-03-20
Villanova's Jens Karlsson tells us about his work trying to determine the best methods for freezing tissues and human organs. Scientists are making progress in engineering tissues and organs, often using 3D printing as a key tool. As this field is picking up speed, another issue arises. "If you have a company that wants to manufacture these organs and sell them to hospitals they have to be able to preserve them," says Jens Karlsson, an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Villanova University, who specializes in cryogenics. "You have to be able to store them in a freezer somewhere, so that they can make many at a time, so that it's cost-effective."
Will We Ever Cryopreserve Our Organs?
BBC online
2014-02-24
The last 12 months has seen significant advances in this area. Taylor, working with Yoed Rabin, a mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, introduced a new device that enables high-resolution full-colour thermal imaging in large-volume tissues. Meanwhile, Jens Karlsson at Villanova University in Pennsylvania has recently captured ultra-slow-motion microscopic video footage of ice penetrating tiny pockets between two close-knit cells and then triggering crystallisation within them.
New Findings Could Overcome Major Stumbling Blocks to Tissue Cryopreservation for Medical Care
Phys.org online
2013-11-05
Developing an efficient way to freeze and store living tissues could transform many aspects of medical care and research, but ice crystallization often occurs within cells during such cryopreservation procedures, leading to cell death. In the November 5 issue of the Biophysical Journal, a Cell Press publication, researchers report that they have gained new information about the processes that are responsible for promoting the freezing of cells within tissues. This knowledge may ultimately lead to novel approaches for preventing tissue injury during cryopreservation. A long-standing obstacle to avoiding tissue damage during freezing is that when cells are joined together within tissues, individual cells are more likely to crystallize than if the cells are kept apart. "In tissues, ice crystals are thought to be able to grow through membrane channels called gap junctions, thus allowing ice to easily propagate from cell to cell," explains senior author Dr. Jens Karlsson, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Villanova University. "But the results of the present study indicate that the mechanism of tissue cryo-injury is much more complex than was previously thought."
Research Grants (4)
Dr. Jens Karlsson Tapped to Lead Industry-Sponsored Research Project on Cryopreservation of Cancer-Fighting Immune Cells
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) $97,000
2019
Dr. Jens Karlsson Awarded NSF Grant to Research Zebrafish Oocyte Preservation
National Science Foundation (NSF) $660,000
2011
Kinetics of Intracellular Ice Formation During Cryopreservation of Tissue Engineered Constructs
National Science Foundation $217,966
2009-2013
Kinetics of Intracellular Ice Formation During Cryopreservation of Tissue Engineered Constructs
National Science Foundation $280,114
2006-2009
Select Academic Articles (6)
Effect of nonpenetrating cryoprotectant agents on intracellular ice formation in t cells
CryobiologySandra Tamarin, Jens O.M. Karlsson
2023
Modeling the Dynamics of Acute Phase Protein Expression in Human Hepatoma Cells Stimulated by IL-6
ProcessesZhaobin Xu , Jens O. M. Karlsson and Zuyi Huang
2015
Effects of Intercellular Junction Protein Expression on Intracellular Ice Formation in Mouse Insulinoma Cells
Biophysical JournalJens O.M.Karlsson, Adam Z.Higgins
2015
Measurement of Intracellular Ice Formation Kinetics by High-Speed Video Cryomicroscopy
Cryopreservation and Freeze-Drying ProtocolsJens O. M. Karlsson
2014
Optimization of cryoprotectant loading into murine and human oocytes☆
CryobiologyJens O.M.Karlsson, et al.
2014
C-24: The enigmatic role of intercellular junction structures in tissue freezing
CryobiologyJens O.M.Karlsson
2014
