In his lecture, presented to staff and students at the University of Birmingham, Dr Kearney discussed his work developing an understanding – particular from a temporal perspective – of how cells receive information from their environment and how this information flow can be controlled.
Dr Kearney spoke about projects that describe the cross-talk between biomaterials, bioactive factors and cells, with a focus on regenerative medicine applications. He also presented his research on the development of novel systems for on-demand delivery of bioactive factors, drugs, nanoparticles, and cells from biomaterials.
A networking session followed the lecture for a chance to continue the discussion on biomaterial research.
Dr Cathal Kearney joined the RCSI Anatomy Department as a Senior Research Fellow in the Tissue Engineering Research Group in the spring of 2014. His current research focuses on the development of novel systems for on-demand delivery of bioactive factors, drugs, nanoparticles, and cells. These systems are being integrated into tissue engineering scaffolds (e.g., collagen-based scaffolds developed in TERG), as well as being tested as surface coatings on conventional implants. Adapting these systems to elicit a favourable immune response is a second key theme. Initial focus areas for application include diabetic wound healing, revascularization and bone tissue engineering.