Dr. Tilles was born in Hollywood, Florida in January 1959.  He received a BS degree in Biology (1979), a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering (1981), and an MS degree in Biomedical Engineering (1985), all from the University of Miami.  He also received his MD degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1993. 

After completing an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Dr. Tilles was appointed a research fellow in the Biomedical Engineering Research and Education (BERE) Program at the CEM.  In 2001, he was promoted to Instructor in Surgery and Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Tilles is a licensed physician in Massachusetts and Florida, and is board certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.  Dr. Tilles serves as the coordinator of the weekly “Seminar Series in Biomedical Science and Engineering” at the CEM.

Dr. Tilles’ research focuses on the application of metabolic and tissue engineering principles to the optimization of biomedical devices which can be integrated with the host and perform as designed.  The goal is to develop a bioartificial liver device in which cultured hepatocytes can maintain long-term, differentiated liver-specific functions.  Methods utilized include preconditioning hepatocytes to optimize functions at the cellular level, as well as microfabrication and cell micropatterning techniques to optimize hepatocyte functions at the tissue level.  His research also involves developing protocols for differentiating embryonic stem cells into a pure population of mature hepatocytes.

Recent Publications

Shinoda M, Tilles AW, Wakabayashi G, Takayanagi A, Harada H, Obara H, Suganuma K, Berthiaume F, Shimazu M, Shimizu N, Kitajima M, Tompkins RG, Toner M, Yarmush ML. Treatment of fulminant hepatic failure in rats using a bioartificial liver device containing porcine hepatocytes producing interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. Tissue Eng 2006; 12(5):1313-23.

Park JS, Toner M, Yarmush ML, Tilles AW. Microchannel applications in the design of a bioartificial liver device. Microfluid and Nanofluid 2006; Epub: May 20.

Rajagopalan P, Shen C, Berthiaume F, Tilles AW, Toner M, Yarmush ML. Polyelectrolyte nano-scaffolds for the design of layered cellular architectures. Tissue Eng 2006; 12(6):1553-63.

Van Poll D, Sokmensuer C, Ahmad N, Tilles AW, Berthiaume F, Toner M, Yarmush ML. Elevated hepatocyte-specific functions in fetal rat hepatocytes cocultured with adult rat hepatocytes. Tissue Eng 2006 (in press).

Shinoda M, Tilles AW, Kobayashi N, Wakabayashi G, Takayanagi A, Totsugawa T, Harada H, Obara H, Suganuma K, Berthiaume F, Shimazu M, Shimizu N, Tanaka N, Kitajima M, Tompkins RG, Toner M, Yarmush ML. A bioartificial liver device secreting interleukin-1 receptor antagonist for the treatment of hepatic failure in rats. J Surg Res 2006 (in press).