Harnessing the Inflammatory Response for Tissue Regeneration

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

4:00 PM-5:30 PM

BIOMED Seminar

Title:
Harnessing the Inflammatory Response for Tissue Regeneration


Speaker:
Kara L. Spiller, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University

Details:
The inflammatory response plays a major role in the body’s response to injury, disease, or implantation of a biomaterial. When the inflammatory response functions normally, it can be a powerful force that promotes tissue repair and regeneration, but when it goes awry, disease takes hold and healing is impaired.

The goal of the Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at Drexel University is to understand the mechanisms by which the inflammatory response orchestrates successful tissue regeneration and to develop novel biomaterial strategies that apply these principles to situations in which tissue regeneration is impaired. In particular, we focus on the behavior of the macrophage, which can rapidly change behavior in response to environmental stimuli to promote inflammation, vascularization, tissue deposition, or remodeling. Through their dynamic phenotypic changes, macrophages function as major regulators of healing.

In this talk, we will focus on our work to develop novel affinity-based drug delivery strategies that harness macrophage behavior to promote tissue regeneration and healing, with a particular emphasis on angiogenesis.

Biosketch:
Kara Spiller, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Drexel University's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. Her research interests include the role of immune cells in tissue regeneration, the design of immunomodulatory biomaterials, and international engineering education.

Dr. Spiller's research is funded by NIH, NSF, and private foundations. Her awards include a Fulbright fellowship, an NSF CAREER award, and the United States nomination for the ASPIRE prize.

Contact Information

Ken Barbee
215-895-1335
barbee@drexel.edu