The Utilisation of Biomaterials from Synthetic and Natural Resources in Biomedical Applications

May25Wed

The Utilisation of Biomaterials from Synthetic and Natural Resources in Biomedical Applications

Wed, 25/05/2022 - 13:30 to 14:30

Location:

Speaker: 
Anthony Callan
Affiliation: 
University of Edinburgh
Synopsis: 

Material development in the tissue engineering field has made a number of huge strides in the treatment of health over the past number of decades. Some of the materials used in these endeavours include decellularised native extracellular matrix (ECM), a number of synthetic polymers or a combination of both. While assessing the functionality of material typically relies on experimentation be it in-vitro or in-vivo, often modelling can play a major role in its assessment and utilisation. This talk will present a number of applications where modelling is utilised in conjunction with experimentation.

The first example is the investigation of ECM as a replacement material for synthetic PTFE/Dacron in stent-graft devices. Stent graft devices are used to treat Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. This condition has a higher prevalence in elderly people and if untreated can lead to death. The study looks at the potential of Urinary Bladder Matric (UBM) ECM and its potential use in the environment of the aorta.

The second example is looking at the design and development of a 3D printed millifluidic bioreactor in combination with electrospun scaffolds for kidney tissue engineering and beyond. This assessed the potential of 3D scaffold architecture in a fluidic environment with the potential to develop an organ on chip technology. The study looks at methods to recapitulate the in vivo shear stress environment seen in the kidney and examines how this is implemented using a fibrous scaffold.

Biography: 

Dr Callanan is currently a senior lecturer in the Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Edinburgh and holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, which he received from the University of Limerick, Ireland. During his PhD, he spent time at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in Prof Steven Badylak’s laboratory working on decellularised extracellular matrix. He then spent time as a research fellow working between the Regenerative medicine institute at the National University of Ireland Galway with Prof Frank Barry and at Imperial College London with Prof Molly Stevens as part of his IRCSET Marie-Curie Research Fellowship, which focused on bone and cartilage engineering. Additionally, he carried out a postdoc at the Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Limerick with Prof Tim McGloughlin, where he investigated catheter technologies. Dr Callanan also holds a National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering from the Galway - Mayo Institute of Technology and a Diploma in Project Management from Dublin Business School both in Ireland.

Dr Callanan is an author on 75 peer-reviewed published journal publications, 3 peer-reviewed book chapters and an author on over 180 conference abstract proceedings at national and international conferences.

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