Achievement

The Biointerfaces IGERT has catalyzed interdisciplinary collaborations between life scientists and chemists, resulting in newer designs of biologically functional surfaces to treat spinal cord injury. One project in this area involves the engineering of surface-modified electrospun nanofibrillar scaffolds to promote neurite outgrowth and axonal regeneration after injury to the nervous system. IGERT trainee Robert Delgado’s project involves micropatterning the surface of electrospun scaffolds with neuroactive molecules to promote bi-directional growth of axons in vitro. He is guided by his advisors Professor Sally Meiners and Kathryn Uhrich. The first journal paper by IGERT trainee has been published in the journal Matrix Biology, Delgado-Rivera R, et al., (2009) Increased FGF-2 secretion and ability to support neurite outgrowth by astrocytes cultured on polyamide nanofibrillar matrices. Matrix Biology 28: 137-147.