Dr. Qaisar Nawaz

Post-Doc

Synthesis, characterization, and processing of mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) into composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

 

Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

The research project involves the synthesis of multifunctional mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) with the capability to release therapeutic metallic ions having angiogenic and osteogenic potential. For this purpose, MBGNs will be synthesized using a microemulsion-assisted sol-gel approach [1] and will be doped with different ions. Saffolds based on MBGNs and PCL will be fabricated using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), as introduced recently [2]. This DFG funded project will investigate the general biological properties as well as the specific angiogenic and osteogenic properties of the produced MBGNs and the respetive scaffolds (in-vitro and in-vivo) in collaboration with the group of Dr. Fabian Westhauser at Center of Orthopedics, Traumatology and Spinal Cord Injury, (LINK: https://www.heidelberg-university-hospital.com/diseases-treatments/diseases-/-injuries-of-the-musculoskeletal-system  ) Heidelberg University Hospital.

[1] Q. Nawaz et al., “Synthesis and characterization of manganese-containing mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles for biomedical applications,” J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Med., vol. 5, no. ESB, p. 64, May 2018, doi: 10.1007/s10856-018-6070-4.

[2] T. Distler et al., “Polymer-Bioactive Glass Composite Filaments for 3D Scaffold Manufacturing by Fused Deposition Modeling: Fabrication and Characterization,” Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., vol. 8, no. June, pp. 1–17, 2020, doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00552.