Rate My Professor Max Yavitt

Dr. Max Yavitt is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Christchurch Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering (CReaTE) Research Group at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine, under the supervision of Professor Tim Woodfield. He earned a BEng in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and an MSc/PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he conducted his doctoral research in the Anseth Group focusing on photodegradable hydrogels and organoid passaging. As an early-career biomedical engineer, Yavitt specializes in biomaterial development, employing novel hydrogel chemistries and biofabrication approaches to direct the organization of cells and organoids for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. His work investigates large-scale tissue development mechanics using 3D spheroid and organoid bioprinting technology, decellularised extracellular matrix, and intestinal organoids.

Yavitt's contributions include high-impact publications such as 'In situ modulation of intestinal organoid epithelial curvature through photoinduced viscoelasticity directs crypt morphogenesis' in Science Advances (2023), 'Spatial Patterning of Modular Gelatin-Peroxide Microspheres in Melt-Electrowritten Scaffolds Provides Controlled Oxygen Generation and Mitigates Hypoxia and Cytotoxicity' in Advanced Healthcare Materials (2025), 'Engineered epithelial curvature controls Paneth cell localization in intestinal organoids' in Cell Biomaterials (2025), 'Fully synthetic hydrogels promote robust crypt formation in intestinal organoids' in Advanced Materials (2025), and 'Quantifying stiffness and forces of tumor colonies and embryos using a magnetic microrobot' in Science Robotics (2023). His research has garnered over 1,300 citations. In 2024, he was awarded the Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fast Start Grant valued at $360,000 for the project 'Engineered cellular assembly to elucidate the mechanics of large-scale tissue development,' in collaboration with Professor Jinah Jang and Professor Peter Dempsey. Additionally, he was selected for the 2025 CAS Future Leaders Program and has presented at the Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting (2023) and the UOC Biomedical Research Seminar Series (2024) on combining biomaterials and biofabrication to understand intestinal morphogenesis.