Events Calendar

Seminars in Biomedical Engineering

Speaker: Perla Ayala, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School

Talk Title: Engineering Materials to Support Tissue Regeneration

Abstract: There is increasing evidence that the efficacy of tissue regeneration is likely dependent on creating a suitable microenvironment that can support cell function. Moreover, the design of successful engineered therapies for tissue regeneration relies on discerning how cell behavior in the biological microenvironment can be modulated by chemical and physical cues. In the first part of this work, the combinatorial effect of stiffness and micro-scale topographical cues on cell proliferation and gene expression is investigated in 2D and 3D. Results demonstrate that regulation of extracellular matrix production by cells on 2D and 3D cultures can be influenced via microscale physical cues alone and highlight the role of stiffness on the physical regulation of cells. Furthermore, biocompatible microstructures are developed as injectable micro-scaffolds and as growth factor delivery devices to influence tissue regeneration in vivo after myocardial infarction in the rat model. The major objective in the development of engineered tissues is to design and create scaffolds that will properly integrate with the host tissue to support the regenerative process. In the second part of this work, a strategy for abdominal wall repair is developed by engineering a mechanically robust composite scaffold laden with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) designed to improve therapeutic outcomes. My studies are focused on designing and fabricating engineered implantable materials that support tissue regeneration by influencing the in vivo microenvironment to direct cells to regenerative behavior.

Biography: Perla Ayala is postdoctoral research fellow at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and an affiliate postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Boston, MA. She received her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco in 2011 and obtained her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with honors from the University of California, Riverside in 2005. As an undergraduate she carried out research at UCR and did summer research internships at Cornell University and at MIT.

Host: David D'Argenio

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 100C

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta