Development of Functional Polymers and Surfaces as Bioactive Biomaterials

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The advancement in biomaterials has enormous impact on modern medicine. The design and development of novel therapeutics, novel materials for organs and tissue replacement influenced the health of millions of people. Synthetic polymers have played critical roles in the success of many biomedical applications and are widely used in devices, implants, contact lenses, vascular grafts and stents, dental materials and in drug delivery. Easy access to smart and degradable materials is critical to the development of new drug delivery systems and smart devices. Although synthetic materials helped to treat many medical conditions, significant problems exist in terms of their biocompatibility, functionality and biodegradation as most of these materials are not specifically designed for its intended medical use. In this research program, we are addressing these challenges by generating novel polymeric structures and surfaces for biomedical use, and how these new synthetic structures interact with the biological system. The long term objective of my research program is to develop tool kits to address unmet clinical needs utilizing polymer chemistry and polymeric materials.Primary Objectives of this Program are:1. Investigation on branched polyketals and polyglycerols with defined degradation and biocompatibility.2. Development of novel heparin neutralizing agents and heparin sensors.3. Development of novel polymers and surface structures for immunomodulation applications.4. Development of cell-adhesive biomaterials via a novel interaction mechanism.The connecting theme is the development and understanding of advanced polymers for its use as biomaterials and devices. We anticipate that the chemistry and materials proposed here will provide new directions in the design of biodegradable polymers, drug delivery systems and biomedical devices.Training Potential: I am currently training 8 PhD and 4 M.Sc students from the Departments of Chemistry and Pathology. The proposed research is ideal for training students from Chemistry, Engineering and Materials background. Thus I am requesting the support for 3 PhD students and 1 M.Sc student for the next five years to train them in a highly collaborative environment. The proposed projects provide rich training opportunities to understand macromolecular properties, and the interaction of synthetic materials with biological systems.Significance and Impact: There is a worldwide need for novel biodegradable polymers and novel materials for biomedical and device applications. The developed knowledge and technologies in this project will have wide applications in smart devices, drug delivery, implants and tissue- engineering. We anticipate that the described program will generate new directions in polymeric biomaterials, especially development of novel biomaterials and applications related to blood contacting biomaterials.