Physiological oxygen gradients are essential regulators of epithelial organization and cancer progression, yet current organoid models expose tissues to uniformly high or static low oxygen levels that diverge sharply from in vivo profiles. We developed a submerged microfluidic platform that integrates real-time optical oxygen sensing with an external sodium sulfite scavenger to generate stable, tunable oxygen gradients across 3D organoid cultures. Applied to patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids and mouse intestinal stem cell organoids, the system revealed that spatial oxygen gradients, rather than uniform hypoxia, drive inward tumor-like growth, polarity inversion, and cytoskeletal remodeling. This platform provides a robust engineering solution for recapitulating physiologic oxygen microenvironments and demonstrates that spatial oxygen dynamics are key determinants of epithelial architecture and disease-relevant behavior.

I am participating in SuperUROP to deepen my experience at the intersection of clinically relevant modeling and biological engineering. I’m excited to take on more independent research and to develop tools that advance translational biology.