Layer- by-Layer and Electrospinning: Novel techniques to develop polymeric biomaterials

Submitted by Alex Mora on 3 August 2017 - 10:00pm

This summer has been amazing! Not only have I been able to explore a whole new research field but I have also grown passionate to its wide variety of topics. My project studied how increasing the collector rotational velocity increased collagen nanofiber alignment. In addition, I also worked with the Layer by Layer (LBL) technique to observe how proliferation and adhesion improved in Schwann cells when applied polymeric bilayers made with heparin and collagen. It is important that we observe a good alignment, proliferation and adhesion of both collagen nanofibers and Schwann cells respectively as we can fuse these two techniques to develop a scaffold. Scaffolds can be used to replace autografts.

The path to a great start in research development

Submitted by Alex Mora on 30 June 2017 - 8:49pm

Greetings! My name is Alex Mora. I am a sophomore student in Industrial Biotechnology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez Campus. During this summer, I’ve had the joy of participating of the Research Experience for Undergraduates in Reconfigurable and Multifunctional Soft Materials program at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. I am fairly shy person. However, I did not want my shyness to be an obstacle in my career. Therefore, I decided to challenge myself into applying to this research experience for undergraduates, and I’m glad I did. The experience overall has been wonderful, I have made lots of friends and learned many things along the way. As an Industrial Biotechnology major, I found very interesting the programs focus on soft materials.