Biomaterials

The in vitro cellular response to a material and the in vivo host response to a device are both strictly dependent on the properties of the material, making the design of the biomaterial one of the main challenge of any innovation in the field.

In the Monaghan lab, we apply our expertises in materials science, chemistry, physics, biology and engineering to actively research new adaptive materials that can actively stimulate tissue regeneration and organoid maturation.
 
The combination of electrical stimulation and electroconductive substrates can enable improved differentiation of stem cells and in the maturation of tissue specific organoids in vitro, such as skeletal muscle, bone, nerves and myocardium.
 

Working at the cutting edge of the biomaterials field, our research focuses formulation of novel electroconductive biomaterial polymers such as graphene, polypyrrole and PEDOT.
We are investigating compositions to tune the chemical, physical and biological properties of these biomaterials and to adopt several advanced manufacturing techniques in order to achieve scaffolds with ad hoc micro- and macro-architectures.