BME Seminar: “Engineering biomaterials for treating injury and infection of bone”

Details

Lauren B. Priddy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mississippi State University

Biography: Lauren B. Priddy is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State University. Her research involves the design of surface-functionalized, load-bearing polymeric and metallic biomaterials to enhance bone healing, and hydrogel-based composite materials for local delivery of antimicrobial therapeutics in bone infection. She earned a B.S. in Biological Engineering and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, both from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in BioEngineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her work has been recognized with Early Career awards from the Journal of Orthopaedic Research and the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, as well as with the Boehringer Ingelheim Mentoring Award. She is an inaugural honoree of Celebrating Georgia Tech Women and received Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s 40 Under 40 and Mississippi State Alumni Association’s Reveille 25 (under 40). She served as delegate for the International Consensus Meeting on Pre-Clinical Models of Orthopaedic Infection, the outcomes from which are guiding the field of orthopedic infection research. Bringing her passion for biomaterials research into the classroom, she received MSU’s Donald Zacharias Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award and was inducted into MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

Abstract: Traumatic bone injuries such as complex fractures necessitate surgical intervention for repair, commonly involving titanium or stainless steel implants. Though these non-degradable materials can be sufficient to heal the fracture, their mechanical properties are much higher than those of bone, which can lead to stress shielding, bone resorption, and ultimately implant failure, requiring a revision surgery to replace the implant. Compared to traditional bioinert implants, one class of materials uniquely suited for temporary, load-bearing orthopedic implants are magnesium (Mg) alloys. Besides their biodegradable nature, Mg alloys are advantageous over traditional metallic biomaterials due to their mechanical properties which closely match those of bone, as well as their osteogenic and antimicrobial properties. Despite the potential, the biodegradation of Mg is a significant barrier to clinical implementation. To this end, we are coating Mg biomaterials with the bioceramic hydroxyapatite (HA), due to HA’s resistance to degradation and osteoconductivity, and have demonstrated the efficacy of HA coating to modulate the degradation of Mg biomaterials.