Swindle-Reilly elected Society for Biomaterials program chair
Assistant Professor Katelyn Swindle-Reilly, who joined CBE in the fall of 2016, has been elected Program Chair of the Ophthalmic Biomaterials Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Society of Biomaterials.
Swindle-Reilly's term commences immediately and she will serve through 2021.
The Ophthalmology Special Interest Group focuses on both the development and biocompatibility testing of materials for the augmentation and replacement of diseased ocular tissues and the development and testing of drug delivery systems to the anterior and posterior segments of the eye.
Some specific areas of interest include but are not limited to: wetting of surfaces; surface modification and protein adsorption of polymers used for refractive devices; transport through polymers, drug delivery systems and technologies; vitreous replacement fluids; retinal tamponades, and glaucoma drainage devices for the regulation of intraocular pressure.
Last year, Dr. Swindle-Reilly won the Lois Hagelberger-Huebner Young Investigator Award from the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation for her work with Dr. Matthew Ohr in Ohio State's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science regarding treatment options for people with wet age-related macular degeneration. The technology they are developing tailors drug release from biodegradable polymer microparticles for sustained release of Bevacizumab (an anti-VEGF drug used to treat the condition) into the vitreous portion of the eye, and could greatly reduced the frequency of ocular injections as a result.
The Society for Biomaterials includes clinicians, researchers, and students from medical device manufacturers, academic research labs, and operating rooms arcoss the country. Its annual meeting is an interdisciplianry gathering which serves as a critical pathway to identifying issues with current technologies, and for translating academic research to clinical practice.
Swindle-Reilly was also named a finalist (one of three) for the 2019 Ohio State University Early Career Innovator of the Year Award. Finalists were selected as part of a new Research and Innovation Showcase at the Ohio Union hosted by the Office of Research and the Corporate Engagement Office. The event revamped the university’s annual State of Research address and honored some of the brightest researchers on campus.
