Dr. Nina Tandon, CEO and co-Founder of Epibone, is leading the charge of biology’s industrial revolution by overseeing the world’s first company growing living human bone for skeletal reconstruction. The benefits of this revolutionary stem cell technology, which has already been approved by the FDA for clinical trial on humans, include simplified surgery, improved bone formation, and shorter recovery times for patients.
EpiBone’s technology eliminates the need to “harvest” bone from other areas of a patient’s body, thereby reducing pain, surgical time, and the length of recovery. Instead, after scanning the bone defect, stem cells are taken from a patient’s fat cells and placed in an incubator that mimics the natural environment of the body. The result is functional bone and cartilage that emerges ready for implantation and provides a precision fit.
Dr. Tandon is also the author of Super Cells: Building with Biology, a book that explores the new frontiers of bio-tech. She's been published in Nature Protocols and Lab on a Chip, featured in Wired and The Guardian, and has spoken three times at TED. She was also named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, and a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer.
Currently an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union, Tandon has a Master’s in Bioelectrical Engineering from MIT, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, and an MBA from Columbia University. Her innovative graduate research focused on studying electrical signaling in the context of tissue engineering.