KGRI Lecture Series: (Aug.3, 2018) #1"Injectable biopolymers for cell and drug delivery in the central nervous system"

The Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI) aims to promote international research and educational exchange and invites those working in the forefront of research and education in Japan and overseas to give lectures.

On this occasion, Prof. Filippo Rossi (Assistant professor) , from Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, will give a lecture titled "Injectable biopolymers for cell and drug delivery in the central nervous system."

Date & time: Friday, August 3, 16:30-18:20 (Open 16:00)
16:30-17:25 Lecture#1 Prof. Filippo Rossi
17:25-18:20 Lecture#2 Prof. Yun Jung Heo
Venue: 16th Building-A 3F Meeting Room, Yagami Campus, Keio University
Host: Keio University Global Research Institute's Creativity Initiative (Core Project)
Language: English (No simultaneous interpretation provided)
Other: Open to anyone. No admission fee, Pre-registration not required

Summary of lecture:
It is widely accepted that regenerative medicine success depends on its being a strongly interdisciplinary field. In this framework, we studied formulated hydrogels and nanoparticles specifically developed for cell and drug delivery in spinal cord injury (SCI) repair strategies 1,2. The intrinsically multi-factorial pathological trend of spinal cord injury is probably the most important reason behind the absence of efficient therapeutic strategies 3. So, systems able to perform multiple controlled and selective delivery of different therapeutic biological agents (cells and drugs) have gained particularly strong interest 4,5. In order to avoid trial and error approaches, experimental studies were performed following the classic chemical engineering multiscale approach: tuning microchemistry to manipulate macro properties in order to satisfy specific medical needs as injectability, low stress on target tissues, ability to retain biological fluids, capability of carrying living cells, and possibility to control the multiple delivery of drugs 6.
1. Papa S. et al. J. Control. Release 2018, 278, 49-56;
2. Rossi F. et al. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 9881-9895;
3. Rossi F. et al. Expert Opin. Drug Deliv. 2017, 14, 1305-1313;
4 Rossi F. et al. Biomaterials 2016, 75, 135-147;
5. Mauri E. et al. Biomater. Sci. 2018, 6, 501-510;
6. Rossi F. et al. PCCP 2017, 19, 11518-11528.

Biography :
Filippo Rossi received his Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, in December 2007, with an experimental thesis on formulated hydrogels able to probe and direct cell fate. In February 2011 he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano with an experimental thesis on polymeric devices able to control and sustain the release of cells and drugs in spinal cord injury treatment. He also spent research period as visiting Ph.D. student at Imperial College London (Prof. Boccaccini group) and in 2012 as Post-Doc at Uppsala University (Prof. Hilborn group). From February 2015 he is Assistant Professor at Politecnico di Milano in the framework of Applied Physical Chemistry and Guest Researcher at Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri. His main research interests are in the field of innovative polymer materials for nanomedicine, drug delivery and tissue engineering with experimental and model studies.

Poster #1

Inquiries
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology
Hiroaki Onoe (E-mail: onoe[at]mech.keio.ac.jp)
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