We look to deliver biomaterials and therapy to diseased or defected locations for mechanical reinforcement or biological effect. We employ biodegradable materials to act as scaffolds for encouraging endothelialization and repair of defects, for hosting cells to harness their therapeutic secretome or for localized, sustained, and often refillable delivery of micromolecular or macromolecular cargo. We use novel fabrication techniques to fabricate minimally invasive vehicles to deliver these materials to the intended site in vivo.
Selected Publications
Dolan EB, Varela CE, Mendez K, Whyte W, Levey RE, Robinson ST, Maye E, O’Dwyer J, Beatty R, Rothman A, Fan Y. An actuatable soft reservoir modulates host foreign body response. Science Robotics. 2019 Aug 28;4(33):eaax7043. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aax7043
Whyte W*, Roche ET*, Varela CE, Mendez K, Islam S, O’Neill H, Weafer F, Shirazi RN, Weaver JC, Vasilyev NV, McHugh PE, Murphy B, Duffy GP, Walsh CJ**, Mooney DJ**. Sustained release of targeted cardiac therapy with a replenishable implanted epicardial reservoir. Nature biomedical engineering. 2018 Jun;2(6):416. DOI: 10.1038/s41551-018-0247-5. (*co-first authors, **co-senior authors)
Horvath MA*, Varela CE*, Dolan EB*, Whyte W, Monahan DS, Payne CJ, Wamala IA, Vasilyev NV, Pigula FA, Mooney DJ, Walsh CJ, Duffy GP, Roche ET. Towards Alternative Approaches for Coupling of a Soft Robotic Sleeve to the Heart. Ann Biomed Eng, 2018. https://doi-org.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/10.1007/s10439-018-2046-2 (*co-first authors)
Roche ET, Hastings CL, Lewin SA, Shvartsman DE, Brudno Y, Vasilyev NV, O’Brien FJ, Walsh CJ, Duffy GP, Mooney DJ. Comparison of biomaterial delivery vehicles for improving acute retention of stem cells in the infarcted heart. Biomaterials 2014. 35(25):6850-8. DOI 0.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.04.114. PMID 24862441.
