Title of project: The Use of an Injectible Hydrogel to Deliver Growth Factors in Orthopaedic Applications
Type: Research
Guide: Dr. Jeff Morrissette

In this project, Tristan Maerz is working on an injectable, environmentally-responsive hydrogel for the localized and sustained delivery of proteins aimed at encouraging the regeneration of fibrocartilagenous tissues once the hydrogel is injected into the body.  This work is being performed in collaboration with the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Beaumont Hospitals.  The long term goal of our research is the repair of soft tissues such as cartilage. The project entails the submission of a research proposal, the extensive research on the use of hydrogels as drug-delivery media, vast project management, the chemistry-intensive synthesis of the hydrogel, as well as the analysis of its effectiveness in an in vitro cell culture and an in vivo animal model. The cooperation between Lawrence Tech's Life Sciences Division and William Beaumont Hospital Departments makes the project a perfect example of team work in large institutions besides being a frontier-research Biomedical Engineering project.