Dr. Farnaz Ghorbani
Humboldt Research Fellowship
My research areas:
Tissue engineering
Home University / Research Institute:
Fudan University, Shanghai (China)
Host research group:
Institute of Biomaterials, Head: Prof. Dr. Aldo R. Boccaccini, Department Materials Science and Engineering (WW)
Research period at the Faculty of Engineering, FAU:
2 years (1-7-2021 until 30-6-2023)
What is the focus of your research during your visit?
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a long-term chronic joint disease that occurs due to deterioration or degradation of cartilage and underlying bone. Damaged osteochondral tissue shows insufficient self-regeneration. As a result, surgical treatments often result in size-dependent regeneration, the formation of fibrocartilage tissue, and a poor recovery of biomechanical functions. It is therefore difficult to treat OA effectively. The present Alexander von Humboldt fellowship project will take advantage of tissue engineering to focus on developing multi-layered and multi-material scaffolds by advancing innovative scaffolding design, combination of fabrication technologies, and surface modification approaches to improve the regeneration of large-sized osteochondral defects.
I choose FAU because:
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is one of the top public universities in Germany. The university trains qualified specialists in various emerging domains, one of them is “Biomaterials engineering”. Its close networks with collaborative partners regionally and with international universities offer positive prospects for successful professionals. The FAU Institute of Biomaterials is one of the most active technology centers at the interface between engineering and medicine at FAU. The central goal of the Institute of Biomaterials is to solve current Germany-based biomedical and biopharmaceutical challenges. So a unique opportunity to facilitate the exploitation of my research outcomes will be created. My Humboldt Fellowship will be performed in FAU, supervised by Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini, Head of the Institute of Biomaterials, who is a world expert in tissue engineering and biomaterials, which is evidenced by his top Q1 publications record. He has published widely in recent years on 3D printed scaffolds and his current research is toward the development of biomaterials and medical devices for tissue repair, which is supported by several research grants. The Institute of Biomaterials thus offers extraordinary research support as well as an opportunity to participate in the ongoing and planned projects that expand my networking and managing skills.
Further information
Prof. Dr. Aldo R. Boccaccini