Thèse - Hyperelastic and absorbable architected materials dedicated to soft tissue reconstruction
Description :
Project :
This multidisciplinary project focuses on the development of new scaffolds dedicated to the regeneration of soft tissues. The objective is to forecast the evolution of the mechanical properties of the biocomposite "scaffold/growing cells"
during the antagonistic effects of the biodegradation of the scaffold and cell colonization. For this purpose, new biocompatible and biodegradable block copolymers having hyperelastic behavior close to that of soft tissues will be synthesized. These materials will be processed by electrospinning to produce biomimetic structures favoring cellular growth. The mechanical properties of the scaffolds will be characterized at various stages of degradation in the presence of growing cells. Simulation methods, from the cellular scale up to that of the scaffolds will integrate the experimental results to characterize and finally forecast mechanical behavior of scaffolds according to these intrinsic properties.
The project gathers the expertise of 3 research groups dedicated to synthesis of degradable biomaterials (IBMM-BA), rheology and polymer processing (LRP), and modeling of mechanical properties and cells interactions of biomaterials (TIMC-IMAG-BioMMat).
PhD program :
The PhD to be recruited will synthesize, characterize and select degradable elastomeric polymers for use as constituent of scaffolds for tissue engineering (IBMM-BA). Beside synthesis cytocompatibility and biodegradability studies will be done. Selected polymers will then be processed to develop textured nanofibrous scaffolds by electrospinning. One challenging issue of the project will be to control the morphology of the network favoring cell colonization and good mechanical properties. Scaffolds microstructure will be controlled via process parameters and assessed for correlation with the mechanical behaviors (LRP).
Profile :
The PhD to be recruited should have a good polymer chemistry background and skills to perform the synthesis and the processing of polymers. Experience in the field of biomaterials and their characterization would be appreciated. For this reason she/he should have receive her/his Master degree in the field of polymers, biomaterials and ideally polymers for biomedical applications. Knowledge in electrospinning is not required but would be appreciate. An excellent level of English is essential. French language knowledge is a plus but not mandatory.
The PhD to be recruited will be part of a large team dedicated to the BioScaff project including two other PhDs and dedicated research engineers. As a consequence, good communication skills are mandatory.
Interested applicants should contact Prof. Frédéric Bossard as soon as possible via email (frederic.bossard@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) and provide detailed curriculum vitae precisely mentioning practical and theoretical skills, a motivation letter, as well as the contact details of at least one academic referee. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Reference :
Date de démarrage : 02 janvier 2017
Durée : 3 ans
Contacter :
Laboratoire Rhéologie et Procédés
Frédéric Bossard
363 rue de la chimie,
Domaine universitaire
Grenoble
email : frederic.bossard@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr