Assistant Prof. Dang’s multidisciplinary research interests span the fields of biomaterials, drug delivery and cell-based therapeutics. Our lab aims to integrate fundamental understanding of cellular and molecular microenvironment with engineering advances in the design of biocompatible materials, biologically responsive drug delivery and microfabricated cell-based systems to develop more effective treatments for diabetes and wound healing.
Our current research activities center on the following three areas
1. Host immune response to polymeric biomaterials
We seek to understand the influence of materials’ physical and chemical properties on their interaction with the surrounding cellular microenvironment in the host response to polymeric biomaterials. Our long term goal is utilize this knowledge in rational design of biomaterial surfaces to promote successful clinical integration of implanted medical devices, drug delivery systems and tissue-engineered scaffolds. In addition, we also study the immunogenicity of degradable polymeric biomaterials to predict their long-term performance in non-medical biological systems and evaluate their potential applications in cosmetic or food industries.
2. Biologically responsive drug delivery systems
We are interested in designing novel drug delivery systems that harness altered biochemical signals in pathological states to program the release of therapeutics for effective restoration of physiological balance.
3. Modular programming of pancreatic micro-tissues
Therapeutic cells, such as pancreatic islets for diabetes treatment, often suffer from decreased viability and function when transplanted into the body of recipients due to the absence of supporting blood vessels. Our team seeks to overcome this limitation by re-programming the pancreatic islets’ modular micro-structures to optimize their cellular configuration for enhanced oxygen and nutrient transports. |
- Chen Y, Nguyen TD, Kokil GR, Wong YX, Dang TT. (2019). Microencapsulated Islet-like Microtissues with Toroid Geometry Enhanced Cellular Viability. Acta Biomaterialia, (in press).
- Tan TS, Ng YZ, Badowski C, Dang TT, Common JEA, Lacina L, Szeverenyi, Lane EB. (2016). Assays to study consequences of keratin mutations. Methods in Enzymology, .
- Dang TT, Nikkhah N, Memic A, Khademhosseini A.(2014). Polymeric Biomaterials for Implantable Prostheses. In Sangamesh Kumbar, Cato Laurencin, Meng Deng(Ed), Natural and Synthetic Biomedical Polymers.Elsevier.
- Su Ryon Shin, Behnaz Aghaei‐Ghareh‐Bolagh, Tram T Dang, Seda Nur Topkaya, Xiguang Gao, Seung Yun Yang, Sung Mi Jung, Jong Hyun Oh, Mehmet R Dokmeci, Xiaowu Shirley Tang, Ali Khademhosseini. (2013). Cell‐laden Microengineered and Mechanically Tunable Hybrid Hydrogels of Gelatin and Graphene Oxide. Advanced Materials, .
- Gu Z, Dang TT, Ma M, Tang BC, Cheng H, Jiang S, Dong Y, Zhang Y, and Anderson DG. (2013). Responsive Microgels for Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery. ACS Nano, 7(8), 6758-6.
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