Research

Overview

Bioadhesives/Sealants

Elastin-based Biomaterials

Conductive Hydrogels

Drug/Protien/Gene Delivery

Microfabrication

Welcome to the Annabi Lab!

Our research interests lie at the intersection of biomaterial design, tissue engineering, and nano/micro-engineering technologies. The Annabi lab specializes in synthesizing advanced biomaterials and employing microfabrication techniques to develop complex 3D tissue constructs, innovative bioadhesives, sealants for surgical applications, and systems for therapeutic delivery and biosensing. This novel technology is engineered to drive therapeutic innovation, enhance healing, improve therapeutic delivery, and advance disease detection, which can impact a wide range of biomedical applications. Our overarching goal is to translate these cutting-edge innovations into clinical practice and revolutionizing patient care and medical outcomes.

To achieve this goal, our laboratory focuses on five major directions:

1. Biomaterials design: Developing advanced biomaterials with customizable architectural, chemical, physical, and biological properties for applications such as soft tissue regeneration, therapeutic delivery, surgical hemostasis, wound sealing, surgical glues, and biosensing.
2. Cell and tissue engineering: Studying biomaterial-cell interactions to modulate cellular functions for diverse tissue engineering applications.
3. Microengineering 3D tissue constructs: Leveraging nano- and microfabrication technologies to design 3D tissue constructs with precise architectures, enabling control over cellular behavior.
4. Therapeutic delivery systems: Creating advanced nano-delivery platforms for the targeted and local delivery of therapeutics including hydrophobic/hydrophilic drugs, miRNAs, and extracellular vesicles.
5. Biosensing technologies: Integrating advanced conductive hydrogels with electronics to enable strain and motion detection as well as biomarker detection platforms for real-time sensing. These innovations enhance personalized therapies and improve clinical outcomes.

The mission of our lab is to create an interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment for students to solve various biomedical problems. We encourage students to develop a diverse skill set and knowledge base in an area focused on the growing intersection of chemistry, engineering, biology, and medicine. Our ultimate goal is to translate laboratory discoveries into clinical applications. Particularly, our lab focuses on the following:

1. Collaboration: Foster a highly collaborative environment that attracts students with diverse backgrounds in materials science, engineering, and biology, engaging them in cutting-edge research.
2. Clinical impact: Training the next generation of scientists to develop clinically translatable solutions that improve human health, while promoting the integration of science, engineering, and medicine in a multidisciplinary setting.