Ariella Shikanov, Ph.D.

The Shikanov Laboratory develops biomaterials-based systems for reproductive tissue engineering, integrating engineering, materials science, chemistry, and reproductive biology to restore ovarian reproductive and endocrine function. Ovarian endocrine function can be lost in many ways: the sterilizing chemotherapy and radiation that cause premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) in young cancer patients, and the progressive fibrosis and decline of the aging ovary. Its consequences are systemic, spanning premature osteopenia, muscle wasting, impaired cognition, and accelerated cardiovascular disease. Much of our work therefore begins with the ovary itself: we investigate human ovarian biology across the lifespan by utilizing spatial atlases of the human ovary to map the gene programs that govern follicle activation, oocyte development, and age-related decline.

To address and mitigate the detrimental effects of the loss of ovarian endocrine function, we engineer transplantable artificial ovaries, transplanted in immunoisolating capsules or in microporous annealed particles (MAP). The transplanted ovarian tissues restore endogenous hormone production without systemic immunosuppression and reestablish estrous cyclicity and physiologic estradiol in vivo. The engineered MAP hydrogels drive organized, stable, long-term revascularization of human ovarian grafts, producing vascularized artificial ovaries that integrate with the host hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis and restore durable, physiologic endocrine function. These constructs are grounded in synthetic microphysiological systems that recapitulate the ovarian microenvironment — biomimetic 3D hydrogels, including extracellular matrix-templating fibrillar matrices, that support folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis across rodent, human, and non-human primate tissues — together with transcriptomic and proteomic profiling that defines the paracrine signaling and cell–matrix interactions driving early follicle growth. This work is now advancing through non-human primate transplantation toward first-in-human testing, converting mechanistic insight into engineered tissues and therapies that advance women’s health.

Research Areas:

Artificial Organs, Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, Drug Delivery and Therapeutics, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine