Organic and polymer chemistry, biomaterials. Materials that can be used to deliver therapeutics (e.g., small molecule drugs, proteins, cells) to diseased or wounded tissues are critical for aiding in the regeneration or repair of the tissue. These materials have a number of requirements including biocompatibility, bioactivity, controlled release, and degradability. My lab will use tools in organic and polymer chemistry to synthesize polymeric materials that achieve many of these requirements. We will prepare macromolecular building blocks that spontaneously assemble into three dimensional polymer networks, called hydrogels. We will investigate the use of molecular recognition domains to promote gelation of the polymer building blocks and investigate how changes in the chemical structure of these domains can be used to tune the material properties of the resulting hydrogels. These materials will be investigated as reservoirs for the release of therapeutics and as scaffolds for tissue regeneration.
