William H. Fissell, IV
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Overview:
My contribution to nephrology and medicine is
the skilled application of engineering tools and insights to unmet medical
needs, resulting in unconventional approaches and novel insights.
Novel membrane technology
My undergraduate training in physics and
engineering brought me experience in nanotechnology through my work on NASA’s
Chandra Observatory and its X-ray spectrometers. While in medicine residency, I
noticed the similarity between the slit-shaped structures of Chandra’s
diffraction gratings and the slit diaphragm of the glomerular podocyte. This
led to the hypothesis that a membrane of uniform, slit-shaped pores might have
advantages over conventional polymer membranes. To pursue this hypothesis, I
trained with H. David Humes, M.D. at University of Michigan, and my early
publications reflect work on Dr. Humes’ large-scale bioartificial kidney. The
opportunity to pursue novel membrane technologies emerged with my K08 career
development award from the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering. In partnership with Shuvo Roy, PhD, we demonstrated that
changing the underlying technology of hemofiltration membranes improved
permeability and selectivity of the membranes. This led to The Kidney Project,
a multidisplinary effort to engineer an implantable artificial kidney based on
this novel membrane technology and bioreactors of living cells.