George Aninwene is a Project Scientist in the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Department of Urology. He additionally holds an appointment as a visiting scientist at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation. George is a biomedical engineer with expertise in entrepreneurship/product development. He is currently leading the research activities regarding the development of the Bio-Zipper internal surgical closure device. His first postdoctoral experience focused on using Generalized Q-space imaging to understand the complex fiber structure of Muscular Hydrostats such as the heart and the tongue. The goal of this investigation was to understand the muscular architecture and attempt to recapitulate the tissue complexities using 3D tissue printing methods. George also served as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA where his work focused on using 3D bioprinting to create complex microtissues with functioning vascular and nerve networks, in addition to developing novel 3D printed contractile vasculature constructs. Most recently, George took the role of Project Scientist in the department of Urology at UCLA where his research focus on novel surgical closures for internal luminal structures. Their team currently has a provisional patent on the novel surgical closure method, and they are in the process of applying for a full patent following completion of the NSF I-Corps Program. George desires to integrate the knowledge and analytic skills he developed as a Biomedical Engineer into helping to create and promote medical devices based on innovative translational research. George began his Biomedical Engineering PhD at Brown University and finished at Northeastern University. While working on his PhD at Brown, he completed the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship MS program, which focused on bridging the gap between bench research and business to create successful business ventures based on novel translational research.