Dr. Liliana Liverani

Former Post-doc (from 2022)

 

Senior research associate (until 2022)

Multilayered scaffolds for interface tissue engineering applications

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

My main research interests are in the field of biomaterials for scaffold fabrication with different techniques, targeting the regeneration of different tissues and organs. I joined the Institute of Biomaterials in Erlangen in 2015, when I awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. The project title was “Bioactive glass in electrospun matrices: functionalised smart scaffolds for interface tissue engineering applications” (BIOeSPUN scaffolds, GA n. 657264). This project was focused on the fabrication of electrospun scaffolds with the use of benign solvents, avoiding the use of the standard organic toxic solvents used for the process, which could lead to the denaturation of the biopolymers and presence of toxic solvents traces in the obtained scaffolds, requiring additional neutralization processes. The use of these solvents brings also advantages in terms of lab workers safety and environmental impact and waste management (1). As results of the project, multilayered scaffolds, combining several scaffold fabrication techniques targeting the osteochondral segment regeneration, were obtained and characterized. From 2017, I am currently involved in the EU project FunGlass (Centre for Functional and Surface Functionalized Glass, GA n. 739566 as coordinator for the visiting researchers training at FAU. Recently, in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Erlangen University Hospital (IVF laboratory) we are working on the use of scaffolds for reproductive organ tissue engineering (2,3).

(1)    Liverani, L. and Boccaccini, A., 2016. Versatile production of poly (epsilon-caprolactone) fibers by electrospinning using benign solvents. Nanomaterials, 6(4), p.75.

(2)    Liverani, L., Raffel, N., Fattahi, A., Preis, A., Hoffmann, I., Boccaccini, A.R., Beckmann, M.W. and Dittrich, R., 2019. Electrospun patterned porous scaffolds for the support of ovarian follicles growth: a feasibility study. Scientific reports, 9.

(3)    Raffel, N., Dittrich, R., Bäuerle, T., Seyler, L., Fattahi, A., Hoffmann, I., Leal-Egaña, A., Beckmann, M.W., Boccaccini, A.R. and Liverani, L., 2019. Novel approach for the assessment of ovarian follicles infiltration in polymeric electrospun patterned scaffolds. PloS one, 14(4), p.e0215985.