Georgia Tech is a leader in biomanufacturing through its interdisciplinary research institutes, strategic partnerships, and state-of-the-art core facilities. Its strengths in biology, chemistry, engineering, and computing, along with partnerships with industry leaders and world-class medical facilities in Atlanta, such as Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, has transformed the Institute's campus into a dynamic and robust hub for scientists with bio-centered interests. Researchers are striving to understand how diseases occur, improve vaccines and cell-based therapies, create medical devices, build better biomaterials for drug delivery, and more. Georgia Tech is home to two research centers in cell and gene therapy biomanufacturing: The NSF Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies and The Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing. Learn more about these centers below:
NSF Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT)
CMaT, an NSF-funded consortium of 7+ universities and 40+ member companies and innovation partners, performs early-stage translational research to transform the manufacture of cell-based therapeutics into a large-scale, lower-cost, reproducible, and high-quality Quality-by-Design (QbD)-driven engineered system for broad industry and clinical use.
Research interests:
- Data science and AI in cell manufacturing, including deep characterization of therapeutic cells through for the discovery of in-culture correlative/predictive quality and process attributes, as well as supply chain and cost modeling
- Tools and technologies for rapid and reliable assessment of process and product (cell) quality, i.e., process analytical technologies (PATs), preferably in real time (at-line or in-line), and innovative, physiologically relevant product potency and safety assays.
- Automation, process and systems engineering for scale-up or scale-out manufacturing and reliable production and storage
The Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing
The Marcus Center of Excellence for Cell Biomanufacturing, housed at Georgia Tech, is a team of researchers that provide end-to-end R&D solutions for the whole spectrum of cell manufacturing needs. The center brings together clinicians, industry researchers, product developers, scientists, and engineers to tackle the challenge of highly controlled, well-characterized, efficient, reproducible, and high-quality therapeutic cell manufacturing.
Research interests and services:
- Research in automation and closed-loop control for scale-up and scale-out manufacturing
- Research in new AI models for the discovery of in-culture correlative/predictive quality and process attributes
- Characterization services for cells used in clinical trials to identify critical quality attributes
- Acts as the in-depth Cell Characterization Platform Hub for the NIH Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project (RMIP)
- GMP-grade piloting facility