PhD in Material-Driven Tissue Engineering

There is an increasing clinical demand for sophisticated medical implants and the scientific field of implant technology is exponentially growing. The main challenge is to harness the immune response to such an implant. In this research we use the immune response to our advantage, by using bioresorbable synthetic biomaterials that are gradually replaced by living tissue inside the body. Our research on this technology has, for example, led to the world's first clinical trials using resorbable synthetic heart valves for children with congenital cardiac malformations.

One of the key immune cells for this technology are macrophages, which are the gatekeepers for successful implant integration. One major neglected factor is how macrophages sense and respond to mechanical loads, or 'macrophage mechanobiology'. Mechanical loads, such as cyclic stretch, are omnipresent in the human body, for example induced by breathing, the pulsatile blood pressure and musculoskeletal motion. So far, the dominant influence of mechanical loads on the macrophage response to a biomaterial when implanted has been poorly investigated, leading to potentially catastrophic implant failures. The main aim of your research will be to investigate the influence of mechanical loads (i.e. cyclic stretch) on macrophage-driven tissue regeneration. Your work will contribute to our overall goal to rationally design new regenerative biomaterial scaffolds for load-bearing applications.

Embedding

You will be embedded in a highly inspiring research environment, both socially and professionally, which facilitates access to high-end research facilities, as well as fosters interdisciplinary collaborations. Your project is part of the ERC-funded research program MACxercise (ERC Starting Grant), and will contribute to various complementary (inter)national research programs, such as the Materials-Driven Regeneration Research Program (NWO Gravitation). You will be an integral member of the ImmunoRegeneration team and the overarching Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology research group (headed by Prof. Carlijn Bouten) at our Department. Moreover, you will be affiliated to the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, our interdepartmental center for research excellence.