The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) will host Dr. Claudia Loebel, assistant professor of materials science & engineering at the University of Michigan, at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, in Gearhart Hall 108. During her talk, Loebel will delve into the use of engineered systems to study cell-extracellular matrix interactions and develop soft materials guiding therapeutic strategies for tissue repair.

Abstract: The native extracellular microenvironment dynamically remodels as cells synthesize, assemble and remodel their surroundings during tissue development, injury and repair. Loebel's lab uses engineered systems to both probe mechanisms of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions (e.g., mechanobiology) and to guide cell function towards therapeutic behaviors (e.g., tissue repair/regeneration). In this seminar, Loebel will share recent efforts to visualize and identify the composition of secreted ECM to better understand cellular responses and to design programmable soft materials that harness dynamic cell-ECM interactions.

Loebel has used these systems to reproduce folding morphologies of epithelial tissues (e.g., airway constriction) and to manipulate secreted ECM components as a means to better understand the evolution of matrix in organ development and repair. This evolving understanding of matrix dynamics and turnover will not only open up new avenues for understanding biological mechanisms but will also enable the design of better materials systems for therapeutic interventions.

Biography: Claudia Loebel, M.D. Ph.D. is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and a Biological Sciences Scholar at the University of Michigan. She obtained her M.D. (2011) in Germany and Ph.D. (2016) at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with professor Jason Burdick at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research involves the development of biomaterial platforms to uncover the role of nascent microenvironments on cell and tissue function. The applications of this research range from guiding lung alveolar stem/progenitor cell fate through material cues to developing engineered platforms for tissue repair and therapeutic treatment. She was awarded the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH; the Innovator Award through the American Lung Association; and the Packard Fellowship for Science & Engineering for her work on engineered tissue models to probe mechanisms of nascent matrix and epithelial cells interactions.

This event is supported by NIGMS of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20GM139768. The content is solely the authors' responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Pizza and beverages will be served. Please contact Kimberley Fuller, fullerk@uark.edu, for more information. For those unable to attend in person, this seminar will also be available via Zoom.