Dr. Quinton Smith is an emerging leader in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine whose innovative approaches to stem cell modeling are advancing our understanding of human organ development and disease mechanisms. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, with joint appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. After earning his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of New Mexico in 2011, he completed his Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 2017 under the mentorship of Dr. Sharon Gerecht. His subsequent postdoctoral training as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna Gray Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia focused on developing microfluidic and organoid technologies to model liver development.
Dr. Smith's pioneering research integrates engineering principles with stem cell biology to create sophisticated in vitro models that faithfully replicate human organ function and developmental processes. His work on engineering stem cell-derived 'mini livers' with functional biliary trees represents a significant advancement in organoid technology, potentially offering solutions for patients awaiting liver transplants by recreating essential structures that secrete digestive enzymes and export toxins. By developing tissue models that grow and respond to regeneration cues in injured environments, his methodology has established new paradigms for studying metabolic and cardiovascular disorders with particular relevance to health disparities. His NIH-supported research combines mechanical engineering approaches with biological systems to investigate how physical forces influence cellular differentiation and tissue formation, with implications spanning regenerative medicine and disease modeling.
Dr. Smith has established himself as a key contributor to the next generation of tissue engineering approaches, with his scholarly work cited over 600 times according to Google Scholar. His leadership in developing stem cell-based model systems to study health disparities positions him at the forefront of personalized medicine research, with his innovations recognized through prestigious fellowships including the Siebel Scholarship and NIH F31 award. Currently directing a vibrant research laboratory at UC Irvine, he continues to push the boundaries of what engineered tissue models can achieve in representing human biology. His work, recently highlighted among Popular Science's 'Brilliant 10,' promises to further bridge the gap between engineering principles and biological applications, with potentially transformative impacts on how we study and treat complex human diseases while addressing critical health disparities.
