Wei-Wen Hu plans to build a career around putting science and technology to use. He received his undergraduate degrees in Zoology and Chemical Engineering from the National Taiwan University. He also received a Master of Science in Materials Science Engineering in 2005 at the University of Michigan. These studies have provided him with a strong background to expand his vision for future research. He has been a Ph.D candidate since 2006, and he is pursuing his doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Wei-Wen’s research focuses on how to spatially control virus delivery in scaffolds for engineering tissue regeneration. To reach this goal, he has developed a series of virus immobilization methods. Adenovirus was localized and concentrated on scaffolds by lyophilization, and this new approach can reduce need of virus dosage, and thus the risks of systemic infection and immune response may be avoided.

He has proven that this technique can regenerate critical-size bone defects in rat calvarial model. Based on this study, he developed another two virus immobilization strategies on scaffolds by using biotin-avidin and antigen-antibody interactions, respectively. In these studies, viral surfaces were modified with either biotin or digoxigenin, whereas viral infectivity could be preserved. Through such modifications, adenovirus could be easily immobilized by avidin or anti-digoxigenin antibody. Both methods have been demonstrated to improve transduction efficiency and spatial control in vitro.

He is currently working on integrating these viral delivery strategies with the engineered scaffolds. By combining with chemical vapor deposition technique, scaffold surfaces can be modified with different functional groups to conjugate avidin and antibody on specific sites. These studies can help to delicately regulate tissue regenerationwas recognized for his research titled “In situ transduction by virus localization on bioengineering scaffolds for bone regeneration” (Paul Krebsbach, Mentor). His work focuses on how to spatially control virus delivery in scaffolds for engineering tissue regeneration.

Sharon Segvich is currently a sixth year Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering, on target to finish her Ph.D. training in August 2008. She envisions a career in research where her contributions will lead the translation of bench-top science to the clinic where people can benefit most from advancing technology. Specifically, she would like to be involved in advancing tissue engineering and biomaterial development in orthopedic and/or cardiovascular systems.

She would also like to contribute to her community as a lecturer at the collegiate level. “To me, teaching science is equally rewarding as performing research.” She had the opportunity to begin her teaching career in 2007 at Washtenaw Community College (WCC) teaching physics. “In my short time teaching, I have come to realize and respect the time and passion teachers put into their craft.” For the near future, Sharon plans to stay in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to start her career in tissue engineering while maintaining her appointment at WCC.

Sharon’s work strives to bridge research between different disciplines to innovate materials that enhance bone regeneration. Specifically, her thesis work has developed apatite-specific biomolecules, in the form of peptides that can enhance or improve cellular behavior with the overall goal of advancing bone tissue development.  By devising a novel, multi-disciplinary approach combining microbiology, biochemistry, engineering, and computational modeling, her work advances both the materials and methods used in bone tissue regeneration. Incorporating phage display techniques and computational modeling towards tissue engineering questions, this work will guide others to investigate both basic and applied biological questions related to bone growth and disease.

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