The Lampe Group develops biomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering with a particular interest in the central nervous system.
To meet the clinical needs of the central nervous system, materials should be localized at a target site via a minimally invasive implantation, i.e. injection through a narrow gauge needle. Therapeutic cells can be delivered in such a way, but survive the transplantation poorly. We aim to improve CNS cell delivery via injectable materials that can easily pass through a small diameter needle and be retained at the site of injection to improve transplanted stem cell survival. We use both experimental and computational approaches to model and understand our material development. Our long-term goal is to develop biomaterial strategies to regenerate stroke-mediated damage such as inflammation and preserve sensitive cells, such as those within the brain. We conduct experiments to understand the flow-profile or our materials and their effects on cells. We also conduct computational simulations to understand the effect of different material permutations on hydrogel assembly. A USOAR student may pursue either the computational or experimental aspects of this project by: 1) Studying gelation behavior of the resulting hydrogels, 2) Measuring cell damage due to injection, or 3) Computationally modeling peptide assembly via molecular dynamic simulations. These peptide-based materials could be an off-the-shelf product that provide on demand gelation to deliver stem and progenitor cells. This platform will yield important insights regarding tissue engineering, therapeutic cell delivery, and fundamental characterization of hydrogel material properties in vitro and in vivo.
Student should demonstrate an inquisitive nature and a team-oriented perspective. Our work relies heavily on chemistry and biology and thus interest in chemistry and biology are expected. Enrolling in introductory computer science, chemistry, and/or biology courses as a new student to the lab would be advised. Students should have familiarity with Excel. Students should demonstrate a strong commitment to research and be prepared to balance their coursework with this research experience. We value good written and verbal communication skills and will provide training to build them.
Students will learn how to:
• synthesize and process biomaterials
• design and conduct experiments and analyze data
• conduct molecular dynamic simulations of peptide assembly
• use Python to code simulations and analysis of assembly
• read and summarize literature related to hydrogels and neural tissue engineering