CARING FOR CELLS IN MICROSYSTEMS: ENSURING CELL-SAFE DEVICE DESIGN AND OPERATION
Sarvesh Varma, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Joel Voldman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Workshop Description:
The format will a mix of a presentation and discussions with the audience. We will first familiarize the audience with concepts of cell health and how it is regulated by the cellular microenvironment. We will briefly introduce cellular mechanisms essential for cell function and survival and highlight how stressors emerging from microsystems may disrupt these mechanisms. We will provide several practical guidelines for designing devices and particular operating conditions that will help in maintaining healthy cells. Subsequently, we will review assays employed by the community to assess cell health, along with associated advantages and withstanding limitations. We will recommend relevant quantitative assays and easily-adaptable strategies for monitoring cell health. Concluding with a group discussion, we will consolidate recommendations for the specific questions from the audience, and for the community for establishing "cell-friendly" technologies.

Overview of Material to Be Covered and What Attendees Can Expect to Take Away From the Workshop:
We will discuss strategies to define and measure cell health, along with "best practices" to mitigate cell stresses within microsystems. We anticipate this workshop will help the audience establish standards that change the way microfluidic platforms are engineered and evaluated, and will enable further adoption of such technologies.

Who Should Attend:
What keeps cells healthy? How does one design or optimize their device in a way that keeps their cells healthy? How does one compare one device against another, in the context of cell health? What should one measure if one wants to quantify cell health? Often such questions have puzzled microfluidic engineers, who aspire to disseminate their technologies to a broader community. Finding optimal designs or conditions that do not harm cells is inherently challenging, owing to biological complexity and several technical challenges. To this end, we have designed this workshop for device engineers, designers, and users who wish to establish "cell-friendly" technologies with utility to a broader scientific community.