Defense announcement: John Packard

            Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a documented and frequently used macromolecule in bioengineering because of its variety of different modifications, as well as its prevalence in the body allowing for many biomedical applications including in vitro gel studies. Using a one step Diels-Alder reaction HA was modified with Furfurylamine (HA-Furan) and used to create a hydrogel composed of HA-Furan crosslinked with Poly ethylene glycol (PEG) modified with malemide. To create different gel conditions molecular weight (MW) of HA-Furan was varied at low and high MW, and PEG concentration within the gel was varied based on ratio with the Furans available within the gel. These six different gel conditions showed that the physical properties such as swelling, stiffness, and degradation could be controlled and tuned based on the composition of the gel. The lessons learned from this study can be applied to creating and furthering the understanding of HA-Furan gels and using them for in vitro cell studies.

Lunch will be provided before the talk.