Saba Atefyekta

Project description

Biomaterials with enhanced antimicrobial properties

Orthopedic Implant related infection is one of the most devastating causes of implant failure. If not prevented fairly, it can cause huge cost, trauma and life threatening conditions for the user. While the antibiotics are widely used to reduce the rate of infection in orthopedic surgery, the development of antibiotic resistance species and systemic side effects from antibiotic treatment still remains as an increasingly serious threat to the medical world.

In my research I explore the use of nanotechnology and protein engineering approaches in biomedical applications. I am particularly absorbed in developing improved titanium implants with superior antibacterial properties as well as cell integration ability.

Applying a surface coating onto the implant surfaces with mesoporous thin films are supposed to be a promising approach to decrease bacterial adhesion by introducing specific nanoroughness. Moreover, Materials constructed from engineered recombinant proteins such as Recombinant elastin-like protein (ELP) can also be used as implant coating to develop a more favorable surface for in vivo interactions. These materials can also be served to immobilize antibiotics and/or antimicrobial peptides (AMP). This results in a local antimicrobial agent administration at the surgical site, which is supposed to be an efficient treatment with low risk for systemic side effects.

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Saba Atefyekta, PhD student
Chalmers University of Technology
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Applied Surface Chemistry
SE-412 96 Göteborg
Sweden
Phone +46 31 772 2956
Mobile +46 70 844 9496