Chemistry Colloquium: Dr. Shyni Varghese

The Department of Chemistry will host Professor Shyni Varghese, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, for its colloquium. The talk is titled, “Engineering the interface: From smart materials to devices to cell transplantation”

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts in engineering the bio-material interface to achieve unique biological functions and medical applications. First, I will talk about design of hydrogel matrices to control stem cell fate in vitro and in vivo and use of such engineered matrices to understand the molecular mechanism underlying stem cell differentiation (Ayala et al., Biomaterials, 2011; Shih et al., PNAS 2014; Zeng et al., Adv. Mater. 2020). I will next talk about developing biomaterial interfaces to support xenogeneic transplantation of cells, where the transplanted cells act as a “drug store” for biomolecules (Kumar et al., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2021). Finally, I will talk about how interfacial engineering can be exploited to creating materials with “living” functions such as self-healing along with their applications in cartilage tissue repair and soft robotics (Phadke et al., PNAS, 2012; Kumar et al., Adv. Int. Syst. 2021; Gilpin et al., Adv. Healthc. Mater. 2021).

1. Ayala R et al., “Engineering cell-material interface for controlling stem cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation” Biomaterials. 2011, 32, 3700

2. Shih Y-RV, et al., “Calcium phosphate-bearing matrices induce osteogenic differentiation of stem cells through adenosine signaling” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2014, 111, 990

3. Zeng Y, et al., “In vivo sequestration of innate small molecules to promote bone healing” Adv, Mater., 2020, 32.

4. Kumar S, et al., “Molecularly tailored interface for long-term xenogeneic cell transplantation”. Adv. Funct. Mater (2021)

5. Phadke et al., “Rapid Self-Healing Hydrogels”. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2012, 109, 4383

6. Kumar et al., Microengineered materials with self-healing features for soft robotics” Advanced Intelligent Systems (2021)

7. Gilpin A, et al., “Self-healing of hyaluronic acid to improve in vivo retention and function”. Adv. Healthc. Mater (2021)