Vascular Tissue and Cellular Engineering Lab
Welcome to the Vascular Tissue & Cellular Engineering Lab at UC Biomedical Engineering Department
Our laboratory is focused on engineering vascularized tissues through manipulation of the process of angiogenesis, i.e. formation of capillaries.
Potential applications of this research include different areas where therapeutic angiogenesis can be of benefit, including wound healing, heart remodeling and regeneration following myocardial infarction, and repair of ischaemic tissues.
Principal Investigator
Daria Narmoneva
Associate Professor, CEAS - Biomedical Eng
850 MANTEI
Chronic diabetic ulcers are the leading cause of non-traumatic limb amputations in the US and are a significant health care burden. To improve healing of chronic diabetic wounds, we created a unique microenvironment using a novel hydrogel (based on self-assembling peptide nanofibers) that mimics the native matrix in the wound and promotes healing. To activate unresponsive, diseased cells within the chronic wound, we have developed an electric field-based technology that uses high-frequency wireless electric fields stimulation to activate capillary cells and enhance blood vessel formation in the wound, which results in much faster healing. This technology has been successfully tested in the mouse and pig models, and is under active translational development in collaboration with UCRI and the UC Office for Entrepreneurial Affairs and Technology Commercialization.