Kennedy Okeyo’s Biography

Kennedy Okeyo, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University

Dr. Kennedy O. Okeyo is currently a senior lecturer at the Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University. He graduated with a PhD in mechanical engineering from Kyoto University, Japan, and worked briefly in a company thereafter. Prior to his current appointment, he was an assistant professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan. He is currently undertaking research in the fields of tissue engineering, biomicrofluidics, and biomechanics, with specific focus on cell function modulation using microfabricated devices.

Induction of Stem Cell Self-Assembly by Adhesion Restriction

We have recently developed a novel culture technique, namely, the shoji technique, which involves the use of micro-structured large porous meshes as substrates for cell culture and growth in a suspension under restricted adhesion condition. This talk will highlight our on-going work on stem cell culture by the shoji technique, specifically, how this results in induction of self-assembly organization and, ultimately, differentiation. We show that the latter occurs mechanically and results in dynamic morphogenetic transformations that yields unique 3D cysts from originally 2D stem cell sheets. Overall, we show that the shoji technique presents a novel approach to modulate the cell culture microenvironment, resulting in mechanical induction of directed stem cell differentiation.