Alum John Slater Receives 2018 NSF CAREER Award
Congratulations to John Slater (Ph.D. 2008), assistant professor at the University of Delaware, on receiving a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to develop a tissue-engineered model of ischemic microstroke.
Slater received his doctorate in biomedical engineering from UT Austin in 2008.
Slater models microstrokes, small, temporary blockages in the blood-brain flow that affect an estimated 50,000 Americans every year. These brain attacks can damage brain tissue and may increase the risk for dementia later in life.
Slater develops three-dimensional, biomimetic models that mimic the microenvironment of human cells and can be manipulated to induce desired cellular traits. To model brain blood flow during microstrokes, Slater will induce blood clots in a vascular system made from healthy brain cells and a hydrogel that mimics tissue. He will blend fibrinogen and a hydrogel to control the formation and dissolution of the clot. He will then use laser-based hydrogel degradation to generate braim mimetic vascular networks in tissue-engineered hydrogels with short pulses of light and quantify how the clots induce cellular damage.