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Nina Tandon          

CEO & Co-Founder of EpiBone; Biomedical Engineer & Authority on Regenerative Medicine

Nina Tandon, co-founder and CEO of EpiBone, has demonstrated her expertise in the biotechnology industry through her innovative approach to skeletal repair. EpiBone, under Tandon's leadership, has made significant strides in the medical field by growing customized human bones from patients' cells. The company's technology includes a proprietary bioreactor that mimics human body conditions to grow bones ready for implantation within three weeks. This pioneering technology won FDA approval in 2023 for testing lab-grown bones in humans.

In addition to her role at EpiBone, Tandon is recognized for her contributions to academia. She is an adjunct professor of Electrical Engineering at Cooper Union and a senior fellow at the Lab for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia. Her previous role as an associate postdoctoral researcher for the Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering Laboratory at Columbia University, as well as her holding of three patents, underscore her deep understanding of the intersection between technology and biology.

Throughout her career, Tandon has been honored by a number of prestigious organizations. She was named a TED Fellow in 2011 and a Senior TED Fellow in 2012, with several TED talks to her credit. Fast Company included her among its Most Creative People of 2012, and she received Marie Claire's Women on Top Awards in 2013. Further recognition includes being named a Wired innovation fellow, a 2015 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy, and part of Crains New York's 40 Under 40 Class of 2015. Tandon's recognition by L'Oréal Paris as one of its Women of Worth in the science and innovation category further underscores her significant contributions to the field. She is also an advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.

Speech Topics

Our Cells, Ourselves

Nina Tandon studies ways to use electrical signals to grow artificial tissues for transplants and other therapies. For the purpose of re-growing tissue, traditional cell culture techniques just really aren't enough. In eye-opening talks, Tandon explains how she and her team are using a breakthrough cell model—called the biominetic paradigm—that mimicks the natural environments of the cells, to help them thrive better. What does this mean for us?

In this interactive and visually engaging keynote, Tandon shares lessons learned in the lab: that life can do a lot with very little, and cells do all the work. She reminds us that cells are not an abstract concept: cells sustain our lives in a very real way. "We are what we eat," could easily be described as, "We are what our cells eat." And in the case of the flora in our gut, these cells may not even be human. But it's also worth noting that cells also mediate our experience of life. Behind every sound, sight, touch, taste and smell is a corresponding set of cells that receive this information and interpret it for us. It begs the question: shall we expand our sense of environmental stewardship to include the ecosystem of our own bodies? Tandon shares insights that leave her audience with a much deeper understanding of their cells—and by association, themselves.

Body 3.0

Nina Tandon believes that the era of engineered tissues -- like, for example, a replacement kidney grown in the lab -- is just beginning. In this talk, Tandon shows us how we (and our bodies) have lived through most of history (Body 1.0), and then how we evolved into "cyborgs" with implants (such as pacemakers and artificial joints, Body 2.0). Now, Body 3.0 is all about growing our OWN body parts. For her Ph.D. thesis, Tandon grew cardiac cells that beat like tiny hearts. In this thrilling and eye-opening talk, she explains the process of growing tissue and transplants, and the future of medical science. With the help of manufacturing and information technology, we are on the verge of being able to grow human tissue--and Tandon is here to walk us through this unbelievably exciting era.

News

24 Americans who are changing the world - Business Insider
Nina Tandon is the CEO of EpiBone, a biotech company she cofounded in 2012 ... Aside from EpiBone, Tandon is also the co-author of “Super Cells: Building ...
Entrepreneurs are Everywhere Show No. 23: Nina Tandon and ...
In addition to her work with EpiBone, Nina Tandon is the co-author of Super Cells : Building with Biology. She is an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at ...

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