Sogang-Youpen Convergence Research Center's International Joint Research Achievement, Featured as a Cover Article in Nature Biomedical Engineering (Toxicity Evaluation and Biomarker Discovery of Environmental Heavy Metals using a Placenta-on-a-Chip)
The international collaborative research achievement of the Sogang-UPenn TerraNosetics Convergence Research Center for New Infectious Diseases (co-research directors: Professor Taeuk Kang/Sogang University, Professor Dan Huh/University of Pennsylvania), which was jointly established by Sogang University and the University of Pennsylvania, was published in the world-renowned academic journal Nature Biomedical Engineering (Impact Factor: 26.3) on October 9, 2026.
This study, selected as a cover paper, developed a placenta-on-a-chip platform that recreates the vascularized placental barrier between the mother and fetus outside the body using actual human placenta-derived cells and microfluidic technology, allowing for a precise evaluation of the effects of exposure to environmental toxic metals during pregnancy. By overcoming the limitations of existing cell culture models and precisely recreating the physiological environment of the actual human placenta, it revealed the movement and toxicity mechanisms of environmental toxic metals within the placenta and presented new possibilities for discovering biomarkers for diagnosing placental dysfunction.
This achievement was made with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT's project to build a hub for collaboration with overseas excellent research institutions, and is the result of an international joint research centered on the Sogang-UPenn Convergence Research Center for New Infectious Disease Teranostics. The selection of this paper as the cover of Nature Biomedical Engineering is a representative achievement that showcases the global research competitiveness and international joint research capabilities of the Sogang-UPenn Convergence Research Center for New Infectious Disease Teranostics, and is expected to contribute to the development of research on toxicity evaluation of environmental hazardous substances and bio-diagnostic technologies using human mimetic platforms in the future.
* Research Support and Participants
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT's project for building a hub for collaboration with overseas excellent research institutions (project number: RS-2023-00259341).
Key participants: Taeuk Kang, Professor (Sogang University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering), Dan Huh, Professor (University of Pennsylvania Bioengineering)
* Laboratory Website: https://sites.google.com/view/twkanggroup
* Paper information: A bioengineered model of human placental exposure to environmental metals during pregnancy
* Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-026-01801-9