Webinar #41: The Search for Building Blocks in Pursuance of Tissue Engineering
The Search for Building Blocks in Pursuance of Tissue Engineering
Dr. Adel BADRIA
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
12th November 2021, 14:00 (Turkish Time)
Abstract:
It’s not a secret how the biological systems work at different levels. The hierarchy of life from an atom to a functional organ involves a smaller repeated pattern which we can call the building blocks. Since I started my research career around ten years ago, I moved between different projects and research areas in tissue Engineering between bone, heart valves and liver. Connecting the dots leads me to see the big picture of my past research. Indeed, the search for the building blocks during my career manifests itself in different ways. The study of mesenchymal stem cells and their potential in liver regeneration was the 1st building block. Moreover, the understanding of the stem cells niche importance leads me to the 2nd building block “The exploration of biomaterial’s surface chemistry and crystal formation”. While the formation of superhydrophobic surfaces through crystallization showed antibacterial and anticoagulation potential, the use of superhydrophilic coating prevented the formation of calcific crystals on the biological tissues. Merging those two building blocks, I wanted to build a macro 3rd building blocks which I coined “Bone Lego”. Using the knowledge, I gained from stem cell and biomaterials research, I exploited the 3D printing potential to create off-shelf assemblable bone pieces. Recently, to those biology, biomaterials and manufacturing building blocks, a powerful 4th building block was added which is “Click chemistry”. Click chemistry not only provides a fast efficient mild building tool but also provides a way to create highly controlled hierarchal structures in different dimensions.
In this lecture, I’ll take you on a journey through my past academic career, current work and plans.
