Alexandros Kosmidis


MEng in Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2014)

PhD Researcher Chemical Engineering 

PhD Project Background

The optimisation of cell-material interactions is essential to better understand the mechanisms of cell migration and proliferation, crucial in the process of wound healing and tissue regeneration. My research is focused on biomaterials exhibiting a gradient of mechanical properties that can be used to control cell culture behaviour. Cell activity is in fact dependent upon the elasticity of the substrate where they are grown. Currently, however, the possibility to create these materials is still limited especially at the micron scale. Using microfluidic devices and exploiting the phenomenon of thermophoresis by carefully imposing and controlling temperature gradients, I fabricate biocompatible hydrogels presenting a gradient of mechanical properties along their width. Finally, cell behaviour is observed over time by seeding cells on the surface of the biomaterial. Cell evolution over different mechanical properties gradients, is providing us with insights for the design of future 3D scaffolds that could potentially act as biocompatible implants.