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SUMMARY:Micro-engineering for the fabrication of specific living neuron ci
 rcuits - Paul Roach\, Senior Lecturer in Biomaterials and Interface Scienc
 e\, Loughborough University
DTSTART:20180209T140000Z
DTEND:20180209T150000Z
UID:TALK101167@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Vanessa Blake
DESCRIPTION:As an interdisciplinary scientist I have worked between chemis
 try\, materials\, physics\, biology and engineering\, and much of the skil
 ls or appreciation for the tools that are used in each of these areas has 
 been central to the development of my research. It is well known that biol
 ogical interactions with materials is largely governed by the surface char
 acteristics presented. Surface chemistry\, micro- and nano-topography are 
 possibly the most appreciated\, although there is still very little unders
 tood about how to specifically engineer materials to direct complex biolog
 ical processes. In this talk I will give an overview of my work focussing 
 on biological-surface interactions\, specifically for the control of neura
 l cells. We have been able to use surface chemical approaches to direct ne
 ural stem cell responses\, and more recently have made use of Biofabricati
 on approaches for the development of an in vitro cellular model comprised 
 of multiple separate types of neurons being cultured in segregation but al
 lowed to connect via axonal outgrowth. Alongside morphological connectivit
 y\, we have also shown synaptic connectivity and model tissue function usi
 ng fluorometric calcium imaging and integrated multi-electrode arrays. The
 se advanced models of neural architecture\, inferring realistic functional
  tissue\, are needed to enable better insight into normal brain function a
 nd the development of new strategies to tackle neurological disease. The b
 asal ganglia has been the focus of our work to date\, but these methods ca
 n be used more widely across other neurodegenerative and brain trauma cond
 itions.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 3\, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotec
 hnology\, West Cambridge Site
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