BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Memento EPFL// BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:EPFL BioE Talks SERIES "Biomaterial Strategies at the Neural Elec tronics-Tissue Interface" DTSTART:20200928T160000 DTEND:20200928T170000 DTSTAMP:20260427T203417Z UID:834e67a75a8a5fe59a55fd1c142f3d4b811b443ca1935a4bc9bb2956 CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars DESCRIPTION:Prof. Xinyan Tracy Cui\, University of Pittsburgh\, Pittsburgh \, PA (USA)\nWEEKLY EPFL BIOE TALKS SERIES\n\n\nAbstract:\nMicroelectronic devices placed in the nervous system present tremendous potentials for ma pping neural circuits and treating neurological disorders. Currently\, the performance of these devices is sub-optimum due to electrode material lim itations and undesired host tissue responses. Quantitative histology and 2 -photon imaging have revealed neuronal damage and degeneration\, inflammat ory gliosis\, blood brain barrier leakage and oxidative stress at the site of implants which may compromise the intended recording/stimulation/neuro chemical sensing function. We use several biomaterial strategies to minimi ze these responses in order to achieve seamless and stable device-tissue i nterface.  Conducting polymer based nanocomposites have been investigated as electrode coatings and facilitate the signal transduction/charge trans fer between the ionically conductive tissue and the electrical device.  N anostructuring is employed to improve the adhesion\, stability and charge injection and drug delivery capability of the conducting polymers to meet the material challenges at the neural interface. As we continue to improve our understanding of the implant induced tissue response\, bioactive appr oaches are being developed to modulate the cellular responses for seamless integration. Surface modification with bioactive molecules or anti-foulin g materials have been found to significantly improve neuronal health and i nhibit the inflammatory tissue response around the implants. Alternatively \, therapeutics that control inflammation\, neurodegeneration and oxidativ e stress can be delivered systemically or locally. These bioactive approac hes demonstrated significant benefit in neural recording quality and longe vity. The ultimate solution to a seamless device/tissue interface may be a combinatorial approach that takes advantage of multiple biomimetic strate gies discussed above and beyond.\n\nBio:\nDr. Tracy Cui is William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh.  D r. Cui is the Director of the Neural Tissue/Electrode Interface and Neural Tissue Engineering Lab.  She is also the Neural Engineering Track Coordi nator for the Department of Bioengineering Graduate Committee. Prior to th is she was a Research Scientist at Unilever Research US in Edgewater\, New Jersey.\n\nDr. Cui earned her BE in Polymer Materials and Chemical Engine ering and her MS in Biophysics at Tsinghua University in Beijing\, China.   She went on to earn her PhD in Macromolecular Science and Engineering a t the University of Michigan\, Ann Arbor\, Michigan.\n\nIn the Dr. Cui’s lab\, the primary research focus is on the interactions between neural ti ssue and smart biomaterials. This field of study is applied toward the bet ter understanding of the neural tissue/material interface and neural tissu e engineering.  Dr Cui’s research interests lie in neural engineering w ith special focuses on neural electrode-tissue interface\, neural tissue e ngineering\, central nervous system drug delivery\, and biosensors. \n\nF or her work\, Dr. Cui has won numerous awards\, most recently:\n \n\n 201 7 Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017\n 2016 Fellow of American I nstitute of Medical and Biological Engineering\n 2013 and 2014 Peking Univ ersity Engineering Globex Fellow\n 2013 Carnegie Science Emerging Female S cientist Award\n 2009\, 2011 and 2015 Pitt Innovator Award\n 2008 National Science Foundation Career Award\n 2005 Wallace Coulter Foundation Transla tional Early Career Award\n\n\nShe serves as a grant agency reviewer for t he National Institute of Health\, National Science Foundation\, National R esearch Agency of France\, Science Foundation of Ireland\, European Resear ch Council and the American Institute of Biological Sciences.  Dr. Cui ho lds 6 granted U.S. patents\, and she is a reviewer for many prestigious jo urnals\, such as Science\, Nature Communication\, ACS Nano Advanced Materi als\, Advanced Functional Materials\, Biomaterials\, Acta Biomaterialia\, Biosensors and Bioelectronics\, Journal of Neural Engineering amongst othe rs.  Dr. Cui is on the editorial board of the Journal of Materials Chemis try B\, Journal of Neural Engineering\, Advanced NanoBiomedical Research a nd Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering.\n\nDr. Cui has published 94 peer reviewed publications with H-index of 50. View a list of Dr. Cui’s publications here\n\nhttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=n3b7700AAAA J&hl=en\n\n\n\nZoom link (with registration) for attending remotely: https ://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks\n\n\nIMPORTANT NOTICE: due to restrictions res ulting from the ongoing Covid-19 situation\, this seminar can be followed via Zoom web-streaming only\, following prior one-time registration throug h the link above. LOCATION:via Zoom web-streaming only\, due to Covid-19 situation https://g o.epfl.ch/EPFLBioETalks STATUS:CONFIRMED END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR