Event
Special Bioengineering Seminar: Rui L. Reis
Thursday, May 27, 2010
4:00 p.m.
1105 Jeong H Kim Engineering Building
Professor John Fisher
jpfisher@umd.edu
Novel Strategies for the Engineering of Skeletal Tissues
Presented by Rui L. Reis
Associate Professor with Habilitation (Prof. Associado c/Agregação)
Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal; and
Director, 3B's Research Group (Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics)
Tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine (RM) offer the possibility to help in the regeneration of damaged tissues and eventually to engineer new tissues or even replace failing organs. The engineering of human tissues is typically done through the use of polymeric degradable biomaterials to either induce surrounding tissue and cell ingrowth or to serve as temporary scaffolds for transplanted cells to attach, grow, and maintain differentiated functions. In any case, the role of the biomaterial is crucial to the success of the strategy. Therefore, the selection of a scaffold material is both a critical and difficult choice. In our research we believe that natural origin polymers are the best choice for many approaches. In addition, we have been developing an all range of processing methodologies to produce adequate scaffolds for different TE applications.
In addition to obtaining a proper scaffold an adequate cell source should be selected. In many cases efficient cell isolation, expansion and differentiation methodologies should be developed and optimized. In our research we have been using different cell sources namely: rat and human bone marrow cells, mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose tissue, human cells from amniotic fluids and membranes and cells obtained from human umbilical cords. The potential of each type of cells, to be used to develop novel regeneration therapies will be discussed. The different uses of stem cells from umbilical cord and mesenchymal sources, their uses, as well as their interactions with different degradable scaffolds and distinct nano-carriers, and smart release systems, will be described. During the all lecture we will try to distinguish what is a fact, a trend and a real clinical open possibility. The use of bioreactors to control cell differentiation, as well as the surface modification of the polymeric materials in order to control cell adhesion and proliferation will also be described. The results will be mainly based on our research in the areas of bone, cartilage and osteochondral tissue engineering. Several Biomimetic strategies to engineer mineralized tissues that we have been studying in the past few years will be described.
About the Speaker:
Rui L. Reis is the Director of the 3B's Research Group (Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics) at the University of Minho, Portugal, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (www.3bs.uminho.pt), and a member of the Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, PT Government Associated Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal (www.ibb.pt). Dr. Reis is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM), Coordinator of the EU FP6-funded NoE EXPERTISSUES, and Appointed CEO of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research.
