Topic
BEI PI #1
Faculty
BEI PI#2
Faculty
BEI PI #3
Faculty
1
Bacterial infections
Kristina Djanashvili
TNW/BT
Lidy Fratila
ME/BME
Robin de Kruijff
TNW/RST
2
Living textiles
Jovana Jovanova
ME/MTT
Holly McQuillan
IO
3
Living biosensors
Kunal Masania
LR/ASM
Clementine Boutry
EWI/ME
Mark Ablonczy
LR/ASM
4
Recovering biomaterials
Merle de Kreuk
CiTG/WM
Antonia Denkova
TNW/RST
5
Brain medicines
Massimo Mastrangeli
EWI/ME
Jeroen Kalkman
TNW/ImPhys
1. Treating implant related bacterial infections with radiation therapy
With the increasing demand for orthopedic implants such as hip and knee replacements, and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, infections are becoming a devastating problem. Therefore, a search for alternative methods to treat infections, such as radiation therapy, is timely and highly relevant. In this project, BEI PIs Kristina Djanashvili (TNW/BT), Robin de Kruijff (TNW/RST) and Lidy Fratila (ME/BME) will combine their complementary expertise in material science, radiation therapy and patient-specific implants, to develop a unique methodology based on principles of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), originating from oncology.Project: Boron-armed bone cement for on-demand treatment of periprosthetic joint infection
BEI PIs: Kristina Djanashvili (TNW/BT), Lidy Fratila (ME/BME), Robin de Kruijff (TNW/RST)
2. Living soft robotic textiles
There is a clear gap between the capabilities of biological muscles and the functionality of current soft robotic systems and wearable assistive devices, such as exosuits and rehabilitation garments. Generally, these devices are not very comfortable to wear, and they provide either fixed assistance levels, or require extensive electronic sensing and control to approximate adaptive support. Inspired by biological muscles, BEI PIs Jovana Jovanova (ME/MTT) and Holly McQuillan (IDE) combine their expertise to develop soft robotic textiles that encode dynamic adjustment of force, stiffness, and movement velocity due to their internal architecture and fiber arrangement. Ultimately aimed at supporting for example industrial workers, recovering patients and patients with progressive conditions, this approach enables assist-as-needed behaviour in a lightweight and compact wearable form.Project: Living Soft Robotic Textiles: Muscle-Inspired Adaptable Textiles for Wearable Systems
BEI PIs: Jovana Jovanova (ME/MTT), Holly McQuillan (IO/SDE)
3. Living biosensors for smart structures
Living filamentous fungi sense their environment though calcium flows and signal cascades, enabling them to respond to a wide variety of stimuli. This characteristic makes them an intriguing candidate for sensors that can be integrated in intelligent structures. While promising, the complex, convoluted, and stochastic nature of the bioelectric signal has thus far eluded scientific rigour. New research is needed to properly catalogue the responses to stimuli, and to implement new signal processing methods to deconvolute signals with overlapping responses to multiple factors. In this project, BEI researchers Kunal Masania (LR/ASM), Clementine Boutry (EWI/ME) and Mark Ablonczy (LR/ASM) aim to set the framework that will enable future development of living biosensors to smart structures.Project: FunSens: Fungal bioelectric potential monitoring for multifunctional living biosensors
BEI researchers: Kunal Masania (LR/ASM), Clementine Boutry (EWI/ME) and Mark Ablonczy (LR/ASM)
4. Transforming waste sludge into radiation protection biomaterial
Biological wastewater treatment generates waste sludge: a potential resource from which useful materials can be recovered. Humic substances are among these materials, which are known to resist ionizing radiation. Considering the large quantity of humic acids hidden in waste sludge, it may offer a new source of radiation protection biomaterial to be drawn upon. This would answer the increased demand for shielding specific substances from radiation, for example to protect healthy cells during radiotherapy. In this project, BEI PIs Merle de Kreuk (CiTG/WM) and Antonia Denkova (TNW/RST) join forces to investigate the influence of thermal treatment to the humic acid recovered from the waste sludge and its radical scavenging potential.Project: Transforming waste sludge to radiation scavenger
BEI PIs: Merle de Kreuk (CiTG/WM), Antonia Denkova (TNW/RST)
5. A novel platform to help develop drugs that can reach the brain
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain from harmful substances potentially delivered by blood circulation, but it also severely restricts medicines to reach their neural targets. This poses a major challenge for treating central nervous system disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer-s disease and Parkinson-s disease. While current in vitro BBB models can aid in the development of BBB penetrating drugs, these often lack the availability of real-time imaging capabilities, making them unsuitable for testing advanced delivery strategies. Aiming to bridge this technology gap, in this project, BEI PIs Massimo Mastrangeli (EWI/ME) and Jeroen Kalkman (TNW/ImPhys) will join forces to develop a novel barrier-on-chip (BoC) platform, combining electric field modulation within an advanced microfluidic BoC device monitored through optical coherence tomography.Project: GateWatcher: A Barrier-on-Chip platform for Real-Time Control of Blood-to-Brain Transport
BEI PIs: Massimo Mastrangeli (EWI/ME), Jeroen Kalkman (TNW/ImPhys)