What do we do? Take a look at our research lines. Molecular design for better materials can come in a few flavors.
Dynamic Materials for 3D Bioprinting
Life is inherently dynamic. Life is in 3D. We try to combine these ideas to create next-generation dynamic biomaterials for 3D printing with cells. These dynamic bioinks are designed to allow cells to maintain viability during the printing process, and provide a biomimetic environment post-printing for tissue maturation. Using supramolecular and dynamic covalent chemistry, we engineer shear-thinning and self-healing hydrogels which contain dynamic bioactive cues with tunable stiffness and stress-relaxation.
Corneal Regeneration
The cornea is a unique tissue. The widow for one of our main senses, it has a complex structure and limited capacity to repair. We must meet the challenge of engineering optically clear materials which instruct difficult cells to behave properly. Not an easy task, but backed by close collaborations with opthalmologists, biologists, bioengineers, and companies, we’re making progress. From anti-fouling layers for corneal implants to hydrogels which allow stromal repair, we hope to bring a bit of clarity to the field.
Vascularization with Materials
Tissue Engineering has made incredible progress in the past 20 years; however, one problem looms. Creating vascularized tissue is paramount to the creation of large-scale viable tissue. We use our materials design and dynamic chemistry to steer early formation of blood vessels within materials. From active to passive mechanisms, we also design materials to coax the re-formation of mature vasculature via grafts.
Custom Polymers for Biofabrication
Biofabrication technologies (like 3D printing) have incredible potential to recreate life-like structures and implants. Balancing the processability, biocompatibility, and biofunctionality of these polymers remains a large challenge for the field. We leverage our polymer design and synthesis knowledge in order to create next-generation polymers for additive manufacturing and biofabrication technologies. From creating new polymers for DLP resins, to shape-morphing scaffolds, we can unlock new functionalities for 3D shapes with smart polymer design.
Supramolecular Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering
Look around a cell. Self-assembled proteins and proteoglycans give an environment for cells to live in. Cells both change this environment and obtain information from it. As Chemists, we think of this extracellular matrix (ECM) as a complex system of supramolecular fibers and assemblies. This is something we can mimic. By building well-defined supramolecular polymers we can engineer in dynamics, simplicity, and stimuli-responsiveness into materials. Step-by-step, we can rebuild the complexity seen around a cell.
Hydrogels for Kidney Organoids
Kidney failure and dialysis affect millions world-wide. Promisingly, advanced kidney organoid technologies have the potential to recreate kidney function from a dish in the lab. These organoids do work post-implantation, but maturation of the organoids pre-implantation remains a critical challenge to be met. We use our hydrogel engineering expertise to create new customizable hydrogels for kidney organoids. These hydrogels help advance the maturation of the organoids and help us uncover basic property-function relationships in the quest for fully mature kidney organoids.