Research Interests:
1. Design of Simple, Natural, Injectable, Drug-releasing Hydrogel Blends for Tissue Regeneration/Repair.
2. Design of Aligned Scaffolds for Directed Cellular Migration and Neurite Extension.
3. Design of Biomaterial Coatings to Enhance Neural Adhesion to Devices Implanted into the Nervous System.
Current Research Projects:
Soft Natural Hydrogels: We have developed a hydrogel system composed of agarose and methylcellulose. By blending these two natural hydrogel systems, we have developed a biomaterial that exists in the liquid state at room temperature then solidifies when introduced to physiological temperatures. These hydrogel systems solidify naturally and do not require crosslinking chemicals which may harm native tissue. This hydrogel is being developed to slowly release therapeutic agents for neural and other soft tissue repair applications.
Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds: We have developed an electrospinning apparatus that creates highly aligned polymeric fibers made from poly-L-lactic acid. These aligned fibers have shown promise in directing neuronal outgrowth. Currently, we are developing three-dimensional conduits that neurons could use to bridge gaps in the damaged spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.
Silica Based Sol-Gel Glasses: We have developed a silica sol-gel matrix doped with chitosan and agarose. Neuronal outgrowth on this material is much more pronounced than neuronal outgrowth on plain silica sol-gels. These systems are being formulated to include therapeutic agents that are slowly released over time to use as coatings for probes or sensors implanted into the central nervous system.
Recent Publications:
1. Martin BC, Minner EJ, Wiseman SL, Klank RL, Gilbert RJ. 2008. Injectable agarose and methylcellulose hydrogel blends for nerve renereration applications. Journal of Neural Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 221-231. Link
2. Wang HB, Mullins ME, Cregg JM, Hurtado A, Oudega M, Trombley MT, Gilbert RJ. 2009. Creation of highly aligned electrospun poly-L-lactic acid fibers for nerve regeneration applications. Journal of Neural Engineering, In Press. Link
3. Delvaux AB, Trombley MT, Rivet CJ, Dykla JJ, Jensen D, Smith MR, Gilbert RJ. 2009. Design and development of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation mattress. Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 195-199. Link
4. Cregg JM, Wiseman SL, Pietrzak-Goetze NM, Smith MR, Jaroch DB, Clupper DC, Gilbert RJ. 2009. A rapid, quantitative method for assessing axonal extension on biomaterial platforms. Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods In Press. Link
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