Self-assembling Biomaterials

Dr Helena S. Azevedo is a senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials at Queen Mary University of London, UK. She has more than 15 years of research experience in biomaterials engineering and has developed significant work on the development of self-assembling biomaterials for biomedical applications. Dr. Ricardo da Silva has 13 years of research experience in the field of Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine applications. His research work covers thermo-responsive polymers for drug delivery and cell sheet engineering, peptide self-assembly and supramolecular chemistry. He is a Research fellow at King’s College London, at the Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology, where he develops his research activities in self-assembling biomaterials and bone tissue engineering.

• 1. Self-assembling biomaterials: beginnings and progress over the past decadePart 1 Molecular building blocks for self-assembly2. Designing peptides for self-assembling biomaterials with controlled mechanical and biological performance3. Engineering silk fibroin for hydrogel self-assembly4. Elastin-like proteins – modular design for self-assembly5. Sweet building blocks for self-assembling biomaterials with molecular recognition6. Peptoid self-assembly and opportunities for biomaterials and biointerfaces7. Lipid bolaamphiphiles for fabricating membrane-mimetic biomaterials8. Self-assembling protein-DNA hybrid molecules as building blocks for complex biomaterials9. Biomaterials based on ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTAs) supramolecular polymers10. Self-assembling of biomaterials using host-guest chemistry Part 2 Unique properties of self-assembling biomaterials: blurring the frontiers between biomaterials and biology11. Adaptive supramolecular biomaterials through non-equilibrium self-assembly Part 3 Nanoscale characterization of self-assembling biomaterials12. Unveiling complex structure and dynamics in supramolecular biomaterials using super-resolution microscopy13. Probing local molecular dynamics in self-assembling systems with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy 14. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to study spatial arrangement in self-assembled biomaterials 15. Studying nanoscale interactions in self-assembling systems through molecular simulationsPart 4 Mechanisms of self-assembly: controlling driving forces and boundaries for self-assembly across scales16. Magnetic fields to align peptide assemblies and provide directionality in biomaterials17. Using confined environments to control the shape and size of assemblies18. Engineering dynamic self-assembling biomaterials at the interface19. Enzymatic mediated self-assemblyPart 5 Applications of self-assembling biomaterials20. Recreating stem cell niches using self-assembling biomaterials21. Bioactive self-assembling scaffolds for regenerative medicine22. Functionalization of self-assembling peptides for neural tissue engineering23. Self-assembling biomaterials as nanocarriers for the targeted delivery of drugs for cancer24. Self-assembling biomaterials for theranostic applications25. Self-assembling artificial enzymes: biomaterial therapies for metabolic diseases