Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva Awarded a National Science Foundation Biomaterials Grant
Immunomodulatory Ultrathin Multilayer Coatings for Pancreatic islet Transplantation NSF-DMR1306110, program of Biomaterials (BMAT)
This grant will supports the development of a novel type of cytoprotective material with controlled immunomodulatory and inflammatory responses to be used for cell-basedtransplantation therapy for diabetic recipients. This project is in collaboration between departments of Chemistry (Eugenia Kharlampieva, PI) and Microbiology (Hubert Tse, coPI). Although transplantation of pancreatic islet cells has emerged as a promising treatment for Type 1 diabetes, its clinical application remains limited due to adverse effects of immunosuppression and declining allograft function. The awarded project will develop a preclinical approach to preserve islet viability and function during culturing and transplantation by protecting pancreatic islets (cell clusters) with a novel polymer coating. These coatings will be designed through hydrogen-bonded assembly of cytocompatible macromolecules with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics. This project is particularly timely since current islet encapsulation systems are challenging for transplantations due to high cytotoxicity and the requirement for large injection volumes. The design of novel immunoprotective materials will open new prospects for developing biomaterials with unique characteristics having applications in various bio-related areas such as bioengineering and tissue engineering. The awarded project will develop interdisciplinary collaborative research which should stimulate awareness of the needs of the UAB biomedical research community for specialized polymer-based biomaterials as novel platforms for cell transplantation therapy.
NIH, Vista Engineering and UAB CNMB
NIH Issues a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II Award to Vista Engineering and UAB CNMB Scientists
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) has issued a two-year commercialization award entitled “Nanotechnology Enabled Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Prosthesis” to a Birmingham based company Vista Engineering and UAB CNMB researchers (Vista PI Dr. Raymond Thompson and UAB PI Dr. Yogesh Vohra, Dr. Aaron Catledge, and Dr. Patrick Louis).
This award of $746,369 is for a two-year period starting August 15th, 2011. It is estimated that over 10 million people in the United States experience pain and dysfunction in and near the TMJ. Typical symptoms include facial and jaw joint pain, neck and shoulder pain, headaches, locking of the jaw, and limited opening or inability to open the mouth comfortably. The vast majority of these patients can be treated with conservative, non-invasive therapies. However, some patients with severe TMJ degeneration may require a prosthetic replacement. Implants have been used primarily to replace the articular disc of the joint and the condylar head of the mandible. However, long-term success and functioning of these implants remains a serious problem.
Major factors contributing to the failure of TMJ devices include the choice of the design and materials of the implant, and the production of wear particles that can trigger a cascade of events that ultimately may result in the damage to TMJ structures. CNMB scientists and Vista engineering have been exploring the use of nanostructured diamond coatings on metallic components of TMJ to lower mechanical wear and improve clinical outcomes. The goal of this STTR Phase II program is to design a minimally invasive diamond-on-diamond articulating TMJ device using computational modeling approaches. This next generation of TMJ device will be fabricated and tested in a TMJ wear-simulator to have a service lifetime of more than ten-years of clinical use. The TMJ devices that show lowest mechanical wear in simulator studies will also be tested in an animal model. The clinical translational studies are planned to eventually allow testing of new TMJ devices for human use in the next few years.
From CNMB archives
NSF Awards CNMB Scientist Major Instrumentation Grant
NSF Awards CNMB Scientist Major Instrumentation Grant
National Science Foundation Awards Major Research Instrumentation Grant to CNMB Investigators Andrei Stanishevsky, (Principal Investigator), Sergey Vyazovkin (Co-PI), Ho-Wook Jun (Co-PI), Yogesh Vohra (Co-PI) and Derrick Dean (Co-PI).The proposed imaging microprobe X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system is designed for spatially resolved chemical analysis of solid surfaces. This tool creates a new multi-user element of the core shared
The imaging microprobe X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system is designed for spatially resolved chemical analysis of solid surfaces. This tool creates a new multi-user element of the core shared analytical facility in the interdisciplinary Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (CNMB) at U of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). It serves a large team of users from CNMB, four UAB science and engineering departments, and fosters collaborations through the partnership with Alabama State U (ASU) and NSF-Materials World Network with Technical U of Lodz (Poland). XPS is critical for us due to its unique ability to discriminate between different oxidation states and chemical environments in a thin layer (<5 nm) of a material, yet capable of the depth profiling of chemical composition when using a sputtering accessory. Imaging XPS is the only tool that has a combination of features to address the challenges of microscale characterization in our projects on: (i) surface modification and functionalization of new multi-scale biomaterials; (ii) bio-active monolayers and self-assembled biomimetic
Imaging XPS is the only tool that has a combination of features to address the challenges of microscale characterization in our projects on: (i) surface modification and functionalization of new multi-scale biomaterials; (ii) bio-active monolayers and self-assembled biomimetic nanoarchitectures; (iii) novel phases formed under extreme pressures; (iv) chemistry of interfaces and thermally-induced processes in polymer and polymer-ceramic multifunctional nanocomposites; (v) surface and interface phenomena in wide band-gap semiconductor materials and structures; and (vi) nanostructured, multilayer, and gradient metal-ceramic and ceramic thin-film materials. This XPS system provides training in 3 graduate and 5 undergraduate courses with enrollment of ~135 per semester, enhances research opportunities in our interdisciplinary NSF-REU site where women and minorities account for 57% of the participants and in our partner ASU?s CREST and HBCUUP programs, and raises the awareness of surface science and engineering among K-12 students, teachers, and general public through our NSF-RET site and UAB day at McWane Science Center in Birmingham. CNMB provides necessary infrastructure and long-term support for the XPS system operation, accommodation of multiple users, and the initiation of new projects at local, national, and international levels.
Materials World Network in Nanomaterials
National Science Foundation Funds at UAB
National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a Materials World Network (MWN) program to support a project on international collaboration in nanomaterials in the Department of Physics (PI Andrei V. Stanishevsky, and Co-PI Yogesh K. Vohra). This Materials World Network project brings together faculty and students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham – Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (UAB-CNMB) and the Technical University of Lodz – EU-supported Centre of Excellence NANODIAM (TUL-NANODIAM, Poland). This is a new three-year program that will start on September 1, 2008.
From CNMB archives
NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant
NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant
In 2007, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded a Shared Instrumentation Grant entitled “Imaging/Mapping Fourier Transform Infrared Microscope”. PI for this NIH instrumentation grant is Dr. Andrei Stanishevsky of the Department of Physics. This new facility will be utilized by CNMB scientists to characterize biomaterials for applications in implants and tissue engineering.
Nanotechnology in Biosensors and Bioengineering
Nanotechnology in Biosensors and Bioengineering
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has awarded an interdisciplinary predoctoral training grant to UAB that is entitled “Nanotechnology in Biosensors and Bioengineering”. It is five year program that started on September 1, 2007. Principal investigator for this training grant is CNMB Director Yogesh Vohra.
From CNMB archives
