Bioengineered Cornea + Neural Matrix CCD

What it is. My earliest professional research role, 2004–2006 at Cellular Bioengineering, Inc. (a Skai Ventures portfolio company in Hawaii). I supervised the cell-culture laboratory and worked on two major projects: the Biopolymer Transplantable Cornea and the Neural Matrix CCD for monitoring neuronal networks. The Neural Matrix CCD team won an R&D 100 Award in 2005, in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The public release credits Amy Weintraub, Kevin T.C. Jim, Kevin Chinn, Leslie Isaki, Geming Lui, and me (under my pre-2023 name, Ryan Littrell).

The problem behind it. Tissue-engineered medical products were entering a stage where IRB and FDA review pathways for novel biopolymers were genuinely unclear. The Cornea project needed someone who could prepare compliance procedures and translate the bench science into regulator-readable language. The Neural Matrix CCD project needed someone who could keep cell cultures alive in service of the engineering team building the array.

What I did. Supervised the cell-culture lab. Drafted compliance procedures for IRBs and helped the lab navigate the evolving FDA regulatory frameworks on tissue-engineered products. Held real human corneas in my hands as a Certified Eye Bank Technician (Eye Bank Association of America, 2004–2006), because part of the role was helping process tissue that came in through the eye-banking pathway. Contributed to the cell-culture-side work that the Neural Matrix CCD team needed.