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Neethu Mohan

Neethu Mohan
Assistant Research Professor

4163 Learned Hall 1530 W 15th St
Lawrence, KS 66045
Phone: (785) 864-1760
Fax: (785) 864-4967
E-mail: n788m511@ku.edu

 

Education

  • MS Biochemistry, University of Kerala, India 2002
  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, India 2008

Research Interests

Tissue engineering of cartilage and regeneration of osteochondral tissue.

My research is focused on evaluating the microenvironment created by 3 dimensional scaffolds for in vitro engineering of cartilage and in vivo regeneration of osteochondral tissue. The chemical composition, structure and physico-chemical properties of 3D scaffolds influence the cell attachment, viability and extra cellular matrix production. The growth factors play a major role in the differentiation of stem cells to chondrocytes. My interest is to optimize the microenvironment provided by the scaffolds and identify the most appropriate growth factor cocktails for faster regeneration of cartilage.

At Dr. Detamore'laboratory, we focus on regeneration of soft tissue-bone interfaces using tissue engineering approaches. Contemporary biomaterial designs for osteochondral engineering fail to regenerate an integrated cartilage-bone interface. This significantly limits the biological performance of regenerated tissue. The goal of our present research is to develop gradient 3 dimensional scaffolds to mimic the smooth transition of properties from cartilage to bone. A well defined pattern of chemical and mineral gradients are required to regenerate the osteochondral interface. Toward this approach we are interested in developing scaffolds with continuous gradient in growth factors and raw materials that stimulate tissue specific regeneration of both bone and cartilage. The performance of these scaffolds is evaluated by implanting them in critical size defects in knee joints in small and large animals. We also focus on encapsulating different chondroinductive and osteoinductive components that might replace expensive growth factors in the implant.