NSF ATP-Bio

08/28/2026

A major milestone for organ preservation - across the Atlantic!

The NSF ATP-Bio community is proud to share the first successful transatlantic transport and transplantation of a partially frozen organ with long-term survival.

A pig kidney was partially frozen in Boston, transported across the Atlantic to France, and successfully recovered and transplanted.

This achievement brings us one step closer to a future global cryosupply chain for organs!

Thank you to Prof. Alexandre Loupy, collaborators at PITOR, INRAE, and Inserm, and the outstanding MGH research team led by Dr. Korkut Uygun who made this milestone possible.

Read more:
https://erc-assoc.org/achievement/first-successful-transatlantic-frozen-organ-transplantation

NSF ATP-Bio is an Engineering Research Center.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC 1941543.

08/27/2026

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is proud to announce that Dr. Lakshya Gangwar, a postdoctoral associate in the department and a Ph.D. alumnus, has received the inaugural Ernest G. Cravalho Award from the Society for Cryobiology for Cryobiology, awarded annually for the best paper that integrates engineering and cryobiology.

The award recognizes his paper "Physical vitrification and nanowarming at liter-scale CPA volumes: toward organ cryopreservation," published in Nature Communications. The work addresses a long-standing engineering challenge in organ cryopreservation: how to rapidly and uniformly cool and rewarm biological systems at liter-scale volumes while avoiding ice formation.

Read more: z.umn.edu/bins

NSF ATP-Bio

08/26/2026

🔬 Join us for the 4th Annual Minnesota Organoid Symposium on September 30th in Minneapolis!

Connect with researchers and professionals advancing organoid science and explore the latest developments in the field.

📅 September 30, 2026
📍 Minneapolis, MN

Learn more and register: atp-bio.org/event/minnesota-organoid-symposium-2026/

08/26/2026

The Minnesota State Fair starts tomorrow! And the University of Minnesota will be there offering giveaways, educational events, and opportunities to participate in research. Several Consortium member centers will be hosting exhibits, so be sure to stop by and engage with AI Hub, NSF ATP-Bio, Institute for Health Informatics, and Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.

Learn more: https://consortium.umn.edu/news/consortium-member-centers-minnesota-state-fair

08/26/2026

📍 Find ATP-Bio at the Minnesota State Fair! 🎡

Join us on Wednesday, September 2 at the Crossroads Building (UMN Central) to meet the science that loves the cold! Stop by to learn more about ATP-Bio research, meet our team, and pick up your own ATP-Bio coloring book. ❄️🔬

🗓️ September 2, 2026 | 9 AM–9 PM
📍 Crossroads Building, 1674 Dan Patch Avenue

We hope to see you at the fair! 🎉

08/17/2026

🎉 Welcome to the ATP-Bio team!

We’re excited to welcome six new team members to ATP-Bio Headquarters: Álvaro Marmolejo Davis, Adrienne Ricker, Nathan Allen, Hanbin Zhou, Melissa Chapman Haynes, and Michelle Fovall.

Bringing expertise across administration, STEM education, industry partnerships, finance, evaluation, and executive support, this talented group will help advance ATP-Bio’s mission to accelerate innovation in preservation technology through research, education, collaboration, and translation.

Please join us in giving them a warm welcome! 👏

We also extend our sincere thanks to Paige Magliocco for her dedicated service supporting ATP-Bio’s financial coordination and wish her continued success at the University of Minnesota. 💙

08/14/2026

📢 ATP-Bio Community Opportunity

Join the 4th Annual Minnesota Organoid Symposium on September 30th in Minneapolis!

Connect with researchers advancing organoid and tissue-model technologies and explore opportunities at the intersection of organoids and biopreservation.

📅 September 30, 2026
📍 Minneapolis, MN

🔗 Learn more & register: https://www.rndsystems.com/about/events/minnesota-organoid-symposium-2026

08/08/2026

❄️ Working together to advance the future of organ preservation!

NSF ERC ATP-Bio and NSF ERC EARTH researchers are combining expertise in cryobiology, nanowarming, and refrigerant engineering to develop a new framework for selecting refrigerants for the cooling, transport, and long-term storage of cryopreserved organs.

This cross-ERC collaboration represents an important step toward making future organ banking systems possible.

🔗 Learn more about the research and collaboration:
https://erc-earth.ku.edu/news/article/nsf-research-centers-collaborate-to-unveil-refrigerant-selection-framework-for-next-generation-organ-cryopreservation

NSF Research Centers Collaborate to Unveil Refrigerant Selection Framework for Next-Generation Organ Cryopreservation Collaborative research team from two NSF engineering research centers. Pictured from left to right: Mark Shiflett and Dorothy Haggard of NSF ERC EARTH; Lakshya Gangwar and John Bisch...

08/08/2026

NSF ATP-Bio Public Webinar Series (2026-06-16): One Field, Many Ter...

08/07/2026

🧠 Registration is now open!

Join the 13th Annual Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium on October 22–23, 2026, at the University of Minnesota's McNamara Alumni Center.

This symposium brings together researchers, clinicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and trainees to explore the latest advances in neuromodulation.

Cryopreservation has the potential to support next-generation neuromodulation by preserving neural cells and tissues for future research, testing, and therapeutic innovation.

Interested in presenting? Applications are also open for:
• Poster Abstracts
• Neurotech Venture Pitch Competition
• Travel Awards

Learn more and register through the QR code or event website: https://neuromodulation.umn.edu/