| Project Leader: | Samantha Holt seholt2@tamu.edu Biomedical Engineering |
| Faculty Mentor: |
Dr. Daniel Alge, Ph.D.
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Meeting Times:
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Tuesdays 2:00-3:30 PM
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Team Size:
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5 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Potential co-authorship on a manuscript, presentations at Student Research Week in March and potentially at regional conferences in summer and fall 2020 |
| Team Needs: | Students with strong organizational and planning skills who will be able to attend the required weekly team meetings, preferably second-semester freshmen or sophomores. |
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Description:
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Hydrogels are crosslinked networks of hydrophilic polymers that can imbibe large amounts of water without dissolving. Their softness and high water content compared to other polymeric biomaterials has made them especially useful for cell culture and tissue engineering applications. Our lab has leveraged newly discovered method of using ‘click’ chemistry reactions to create a hydrogel which can be controllably stiffened over time. This semester, this project aims to optimize this hydrogel formulation as a platform for 3D cell culture, and apply this same strategy to different polymeric materials. We believe that by creating a platform that can be controllably stiffened over time we will enable better study of how biomechanical factors impact clinical outcomes in conditions such as fibrotic disease and cancer.
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