Abstract

The poor regenerative ability of the brain and spinal cord following injury or disease can lead to negative clinical outcomes, with major consequences for patients and healthcare systems. Developing novel approaches to improve neural repair is therefore a key goal for regenerative medicine. Neural tissue engineering is a relatively new field at the interface of neuroscience and engineering, where approaches in neural cell biology are combined with engineering principles to promote neurological repair.

This talk will discuss the application of neural tissue engineering methods to develop:

(i) improved stem/precursor cell transplantation therapies (focusing on novel methods to genetically engineer and image transplant populations, and protect cells during transplantation procedures); and

(ii) advanced ex vivo biological injury models including those using human tissue for the early testing of regenerative materials/devices. This is with the aim of reducing reliance on live animal neurological injury models which are associated with a range of ethical, logistical and cost issues.