The objective of this project is to study and control bone cell-biomaterial interactions. The specific objectives of this project are to: (1) optimize and characterize methods to chemically modify biomaterial surfaces with bioactive ligands, (2) investigate protein interactions with chemically modified biomaterials, (3) examine focal adhesion formation and subsequent functions of osteoblasts and osteoclasts cultured on chemically-modified biomaterials, and (4) incorporate mentored student-teaching and active learning opportunities into biomedical engineering courses on cell-biomaterial interactions.
