The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will provide twenty-four months of support to Dr. Andrew T. Metters to work with Dr. Jeffrey Hubbell at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and University of Zurich in Switzerland on engineered polymeric biomaterials for enhancement of cell migration and nerve regeneration. Novel, biomaterials that guide cell growth and migration offer great potential as scaffolds for the engineering of complex tissues. This research involves tailoring the three-dimensional architectures of enzymatically degradable, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-co-peptide hydrogels. These specialized networks actively promote regeneration of peripheral nerves through their unique combination of chemical and structural parameters. Dr. Hubbell heads a research group at ETH that consists of approximately 30 doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and senior researchers with multidisciplinary backgrounds. The institute contains state-of-the-art research equipment for peptide synthesis, polymer chemistry analysis, microscopy, cell culture, and biochemical analysis.
