Awarded in 2015
Home Department: Bioengineering
Faculty Advisors: Fan Yang (Bioengineering, Orthopaedic Surgery), Sarah Heilshorn (Materials Science & Engineering), and R. Lane Smith (Orthopaedic Surgery)

Research Title: Mimicking cartilage tissue zonal organization by engineering hydrogels with gradient niche cues”

Research Description: Osteoarthritis represents one of the most common joint degenerative diseases in the western world, affecting ~ 50% of the population above the age of 65. Cartilage is an avascular tissue characterized by zonal organizations, which play an important role in maintaining cartilage structure and functions. There remains a critical need to develop enabling novel technologies for regenerating cartilage with tissue-mimicking zonal organization; current bottlenecks in stem cell biology and tissue regeneration cannot be addressed using the existing models and paradigms. Bonnie's proposed research will enable regeneration of cartilage with tissue-mimicking zonal structure and functions, and facilitate high-throughput screening of stem cell-niche interactions using novel gradient hydrogels.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Bonnie is an assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology in the department of Chemical & Biological Engineering.