CBE Seminar: Christine Schmidt

Professor, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Chair & Department Chair, Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida

Engineering Natural-Based Materials for Functional Nerve Regeneration

 

Abstract

Damage to peripheral nerve tissue can have a devastating impact on the quality of life for individuals suffering from nerve injuries. Our research is focused on analyzing and designing natural-based biomaterials that can interface with neurons and specifically stimulate and guide nerves to regenerate. These biomaterials can ultimately be used for facial and hand reconstruction or in trauma cases, and potentially could be used to aid the regeneration of damaged spinal cord as well. This presentation will focus on peripheral nerve applications and successes to date.   

In one approach, we have focused on the development of advanced hyaluronan-based scaffolds for nerve regeneration applications. Hyaluronic acid (HA; also known as hyaluronan) is a non-sulfated, high molecular weight, glycosaminoglycan found in all mammals and is a major component of the extracellular matrix in the nervous system. HA plays a significant role in wound healing and tissue regeneration, and is also a versatile biomaterial that has been used in a number of applications including tissue engineering scaffolds, clinical therapies, and drug delivery devices. Our group has devised novel techniques to process HA into forms that can be used in therapeutic wound healing applications. For example, we are using advanced laser-based processes and magnetic particle templating to create microarchitecture within the hyaluronan materials to mimic the native basal lamina of nerve and thus to provide physical and chemical guidance features for regenerating axons. In a parallel approach to foster nerve regeneration, our group has developed natural "acellular tissue grafts" created by chemical processing of normal intact nerve tissue to preserve the microarchitecture but to eliminate the immune response. These engineered, biological nerve grafts are currently used in the clinic for peripheral nerve injuries.

 

Bio

Christine E. Schmidt is the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Endowed Chair and Department Chair of the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. Dr. Schmidt received her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995 (with D. Lauffenburger). She conducted postdoctoral research at MIT (with R. Langer) as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, joining the University of Texas at Austin Chemical Engineering faculty in 1996. She was one of the founding faculty members of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin, and was at UT Austin until December 2012, when she moved to become the Chair of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida.

 

Dr. Schmidt is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) of the International Union of Societies of Biomaterials Science and Engineering. She is currently the President for AIMBE (2018-2020). She has also served previously as the Chair for the College of Fellows for AIMBE, as a member of the Board of Directors for BMES, and as the Conference Chair for the BMES annual meeting in 2010. She served as the inaugural Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Chemistry B from 2012 until 2016. She currently serves as the Neural Engineering Section Editor for Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering and also currently serves on the Advisory/Editorial Boards for Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Materials Horizons, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, and Nanomedicine. She has received numerous research, teaching, and advising awards, including the American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellowship from NSF's Division of Materials Research, the Chairmen's Distinguished Life Sciences Award by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Women's Initiatives Committee's (WIC) Mentorship Excellence Award from AIChE, the Cockrell School of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Texas at Austin, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and a Whitaker Young Investigator Award.      

 

Dr. Schmidt's research is focused on developing new biomaterials and biomaterial composites (e.g., natural material scaffolds, processed tissues, electronic polymer composites) that can be used to physically guide and stimulate regenerating nerves and the healing of other tissues. Dr. Schmidt is active in commercialization efforts. Her research on development of decellularized nerve tissue has been licensed and utilized in AxoGen Inc.’s Avance® nerve graft, which has impacted over 40,000 patients who suffer from peripheral nerve injuries. Her research is also the foundation for the start-up company, Alafair Biosciences, in Austin Texas that focuses on internal wound care management. Alafair’s first clinical product, VersaWrap Tendon Protector was launched in December 2017 and has already been used in over 70 patients. Furthermore, SANA Technologies has signed an option to license Dr. Schmidt’s pending patent, “Magnetically templated tissue engineering scaffolds and methods of making and using the magnetically templated tissue engineering scaffolds”. UF technology commercialization funds have been secured and Dr. Schmidt and her collaborators are in the process of seeking STTR support for developing a commercial nerve guide. Dr. Schmidt has additional patents licensed to companies such as Smith and Nephew and Siluria Technologies, Inc., and many additional invention disclosures and pending patents.