Events

Bioengineering PDRA Seminar by Valeriia Kudriavtceva & Simon Grossemy

Date: Tuesday 7 February 2023 12:00 - 12:30

Location: SEMS Seminar Room & MS Teams

Valeriia Kudriavtceva's project is about developing printed polymer drug delivery systems with precise control over capsule geometry, higher loading capacity, flexibility for the choice of active cargoes, and stimuli-responsiveness.

Keywords: drug delivery systems, layer-by-layer assembly, soft lithography, controlled release.

Simon Grossemy's project is about tendinopathy, a highly debilitating, painful condition. Whilst tendinopathy prevalence is rising, poor characterization of disease has resulted in a lack of available therapies. Addressing this need necessitates improved knowledge of tendon physiology, and the importance of mechanobiology in tendon health and disease. Tendon is collagen-rich multi-level composite material, in which the largest structural unit is the fascicle (fascicular matrix; FM) bound together by a proteoglycan-rich matrix (interfascicular matrix; IFM). Recent studies have demonstrated that IFM and FM have very distinct mechanical properties and cell populations. Further, recent data indicates that IFM cells are more metabolically active and may drive tendon disease. This study aims to develop a tendon-on-a-chip able to recapitulate IFM and FM niches to explore the fundamental mechanobiology driving tendon disease and facilitate development of novel treatments.

Keywords: tendon, tissue engineering, hydrogel, organ-on-a chip.

This seminar will be chaired by Joanne Nolan.