Engineering Project

Chandra M Valmikinathan

*** ****** ******

Elmwood Park, NJ 07407

Neurological Biomaterials and Cancer Therapeutics Lab

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA 30332

Cell: 201-***-****

Work: 404-***-****

Email: *******@******.***

PROFILE SUMMARY

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Georgia Tech/Emory University Biomedical Engineering Department – Georgia Tech –Emory University Collaboration for Living Tissues and Regenerative Medicine (GTEC) and Parker Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Biosciences (IBB)

Expertise in neurological and orthopedic biomaterials, stem cell delivery with immune modulation and cancer therapeutics - Over 6 years of experience in applied biomaterials, nanotechnology, bioengineering, analytical chemistry and in vitro testing

Recipient of The Exxon Mobil Outstanding achievement award in pursuing Doctorate of Philosophy degree (PhD) at Stevens Institute of Technology

Expertise in product development principles, new project initiation, development, management and technology transfer strategies

Proficiency in research and experiment design, training and documentation, and writing proposals - Involved in preparation of funded grants totally over $1 million over the last 6 years

Published over 10 papers in peer-reviewed journals, refereed conferences and 2 patent applications

Exceptionally motivated self-starter, flexible, and creative problem-solver with proven leadership and interpersonal skills; Worked in numerous inter- and multi-disciplinary research teams

Synergistic research and development collaborations with academia, federal laboratories and industries

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering, December 2009

Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

Advisor: Dr. Xiaojun Yu

Dissertation: Engineered Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Nerve Tissue Engineering

Developed (a) Electrospun nanofiber containing 3 dimensional open structured spiral scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration, (b) Functionalized nanofibrous matrices with neurotrophic factors, extracellular matrix proteins and laminin gradients

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, December 2005

Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

Advisor: Dr. Matthew Libera

Project: E-beam patterned nanohydrogels for studying cell-surface interactions

Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, May 2002

University of Madras, India

First Class with Distinction (Top 1%)

PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS

6 peer reviewed journals related to tissue engineering, drug delivery, cancer therapy, surface modification and biofilm retarding surfaces in leading journals

6 Invited book chapters and 1 invited journal article in Internationally recognized publishing houses

2 patent applications filed

10+ conference abstracts for poster and podium presentations in Internationally recognized societies

Helped develop and prepare several successful grant proposals and project reports for several federal and private funding agencies including NIH, NSF, DOD with Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda, Dr. Xiaojun Yu and Dr. Cato Laurencin

RESEARCH AND WORK EXPERIENCE

Consultant, August 2010 - Present

Regeneration Matrix LLC, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Project leader for the characterization of biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) based nanofibrous thin film containing porous scaffolds for regeneration of critical sized nerve defects in a rat model and compared outcomes against autografts and commercially available nerve grafts

Lead the preparation of STTR and SBIR grants for commercialization and testing of scaffolds fabricated by Regeneration Matrix LLC.

Post-Doctoral Fellow, January 2010 - Present

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Neurological Biomaterials and Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory

Mentor: Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda

In-Situ Gelling Hydrogels For Modulation Of Immune Privilege

o Development and characterization of photocrosslinkable chitosan based hydrogels

o Fabricated and evaluated the crosslinking parameters of immune modulating proteins such as FAS ligands, anti-FAS receptors and IFN-γ to hydrogels

o Studied the immune modulation efficacy of protein tagged hydrogels to prevent attack against the immune system as well as their ability to protect delivered stem cells, specifically embryonic neural stem cells for repair of autoimmune disorders

Engineered Thin Films for “Exvading” Pediatric Brain Tumors

o Played a significant role in the development and characterization of Electrospun nanofiber matrix coated with extracellular matrix proteins to mimic white matter tracts to direct cell migration

o Fabricated 2 dimensional protein gradients on Electrospun nanofibers using principles of diffusion through hydrogel matrices

Graduate Research Associate January 2006 – December 2009

Stevens Institute of Technology

Musculoskeletal and Neural Tissue Engineering Laboratory

Engineered Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Nerve Tissue Engineering

o Novel Nanofibrous Developed novel nanofibrous spiral scaffolds for regeneration of peripheral nervous system, using poly (lactide-co-glycotide) (PLGA) or polycaprolactone (PCL)

o Evaluated controlled release of nerve growth factor from nanofibers and studied the performance of laminin crosslinked scaffolds using co-culture model with Schwann cells and primary dorsal root ganglion cells

o Employed perfusion bioreactor and NASA’s rotating wall bioreactor to evaluate cell attachment and proliferation novel open nanofibrous spiral scaffolds using glial cells for faster lab to clinic approach to treat peripheral nerve injuries

o Demonstrated application of similar 3 dimensional nanofibrous spiral scaffolds to regeneration of large bone defects and for spinal fusion

Stem Cells for Regeneration of Large Bone Defects

o Isolated and established mesenchymal stem cells from rats and rabbits for regeneration of peripheral and central nervous system injuries, large bone defects and spinal fusion models.

o Evaluated the response of stem cells on novel layer-by-layer self assembled hydroxyapatite based scaffolds for proliferation and differentiation into bone like tissues.

Surface Modification for Biofilm applications and Reduction of Scar Tissue Formation

o Surface modification with self-assembled surfaces and nanohydrogels to resist bacterial adhesion and simultaneously support Osteoblast attachment, proliferation and differentiation

o Evaluated response of surface with Staphylococcus Aureus (s.aureus) bacterial biofilms and Human Osteoblast cells

RESEARCH TOOLS AND SKILLS

Biomaterials Fabrication Techniques: Electrospinning, microsphere sintering, phase separation, freeze drying, novel in-situ gelling stimuli-responsive hydrogels (synthesis and characterization), protein based materials, electron beam lithography, photo-crosslinking and microfabrication

In Vitro Studies and Characterization: Isolation and expansion of primary musculoskeletal and neural cells, expertise with mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells and cell lines, including, osteoblasts, endothelial cells, T cells, smooth muscle cells, Schwann cells, chondrocytes, tumor cells, Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus bacterial strains

In Vivo Studies: Rabbit ulnar bone defect model with large bone defects, Rat sciatic nerve replacements over critical length, tumor flank model for breast cancer and deep brain glioma tumor models

Imaging Techniques: Optical, atomic force, confocal, scanning and transmission electron microscopy

Equipment and Research Tools: Mechanical testing (Instron), Differential Scanning Calorimetry, XRD, Contact Angle Measurements, HPLC, FTIR, ELISA assays, Histology, SDS-PAGE, western blotting and RT-PCR studies

Bioreactor Design and Experiments: Rotating wall vessel bioreactor, perfusion bioreactor

GRANTS AND FUNDING

Co-PI in a successful grant proposal with Dr. Xiaojun Yu, Biphasic Scaffolds for Spinal Fusion, for AO Foundation, 2009, CHF 100,000

Co-developed a successful grant proposal with Dr. Xiaojun Yu and Dr. Cato Laurencin, Novel Spiral Scaffolds for Bone Healing, for Wallace H Coulter Foundation, 2007-2011, US $ 500,000 (phases I, II) and with Dr. Xiaojun Yu on Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, National Institutes of Health (R03), 2009-2011, USD 300000

TEACHING AND MENTORSHIP

Teaching Assistant: Materials Engineering Laboratory, Fall 2003-Fall 2005-Supervised Undergraduate lab

Teaching Assistant: Introduction to Biomaterials, Spring 2005-Supervised graduate course and lab activities

Undergraduate / Graduate Research Advisor: Supervised 8 undergrads and 4 masters students

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS & MEMBERSHIP

Reviews: Ad-hoc reviewer for Biomacromolecules, Journal of Neural Engineering and Stem cells and development

Membership: Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), Society for Biomaterials (SfB), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)

PUBLICATIONS

Patents

1. Synergetic integrated spiral in tubular scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, patent filed

2. Dextran chitosan based in-situ gelling hydrogels for biomedical applications, provisional patent pending

Book Chapters and Invited Publications

1. Xiaojun Yu, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Junping Wang and Amanda Rogers, Nanotechnology and Drug Delivery, in Biomedical Nanostructures, Laurencin CT et.al (Editors) 2007, Wiley and Sons

2. Junping Wang, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Nanotechnology Mediated Drug Delivery Across Blood Brain Barriers, in Nanostructures for Biology and Medicine, Special Issue for Bioactive Compounds, 2009, Bentham Scientific Publishers

3. Xiaojun Yu, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Junping Wang, Amanda Rogers, Electrospun Nanofibers for Biomedical Applications, Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, American Scientific Publishers. Accepted / In Press

4. Chandra M Valmikinathan, Harinder Bawa, Radoslaw Junka and Xiaojun Yu, Nanotechnologies for Neural Tissue Engineering, in Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Ketul Popat (Editor), Taylor and Francis Group, LLC Publications, Accepted / In Press

5. Anjana Jain, Chandra M Valmikinathan, Ravi V Bellamkonda, Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, in Comprehensive Biomaterials, Ducheyne P, Hutmacher D, Healy K, Kilpatrick J, Elsevier Publishing, Submitted

6. Martin Steed, Vivek Mukhatyar, Chandra M Valmikinathan, Ravi V Bellamkonda, Atlas of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics of North America devoted to Peripheral Trigeminal Nerve Injury, Repair and Regeneration, Editors Martin Steed, In Preparation

Peer-Reviewed Journals

1. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Sergio Smiriglio, Junping Wang, Neha Golwala, Xiaojun Yu, Magnetically Induced Protein Gradients on Nanofibers, Combinational Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, 2009, 12, 656-663

2. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Jing Jing Tian, Junping Wang, Xiaojun Yu. Novel Nanofibrous Spiral Scaffolds for Nerve Tissue Engineering. Journal of Neural Engineering, 2008, 5(4):422-32

3. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Steven Defroda, Xiaojun Yu, Polycaprolactone and Bovine Serum Albumin Based Nanofibers for Controlled Release of Nerve Growth Factor, Biomacromolecules, 2009, 11, 10, 5, 1084-9

4. Junping Wang, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Wei Liu, Xiaojun Yu, Cato T Laurencin, Novel Nanofibrous Spiral Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research B, J Biomed Mater Res A. 2010 May, 93, 2, 753-62.

5. Matthew Conforth, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Yan Meng, Xiaojun Yu, Nerve Graft Selection for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration using Neural Networks Trained by a Hybrid ACO/PSO Method, IEEE-Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, 2009

6. Chandra M Valmikinathan, John Hoffman, Xiaojun Yu, Impact of Scaffold Micro and Macro Architecture on Cell Proliferation under Static and Dynamic Conditions, Journal of Materials Science and Engineering C, In Press, 2010

7. Chandra M Valmikinathan, Harinder Bawa, Michael Hoffman, Xiaojun Yu, Layer-by-Layer Deposition of Hydroxyapatite onto Novel Spiral Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, In Preparation

8. Qichen Wang*, Chandra M Valmikinathan*, Xiaojun Yu, Matthew Libera, Nanohydrogel Functionalized Electrospun Nanofibers for Biomedical Applications, In Preparation (* Contributed equally)

9. Chandra M Valmikinathan, Vivek Mukhatyar, Anjana Jain, Ravi Bellamkonda, Photo-Crosslinkable Chitosan Hydrogels for Neural Tissue Engineering, In Preparation

Conference Abstracts

1. Harsh S. Shah, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Novel Structured Bone Scaffolds, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), 2006 meeting, Chicago

2. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Neha. G. Golwala, Xiaojun Yu, Generating Protein Gradients on Polymeric Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Nerve Tissue Engineering, Society of Biomaterials, 2007 Annual Meeting, Chicago

3. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Jingjing Tian, Xiaojun Yu, Spiral Structured Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Cell Seeding in Rotating Bioreactors, Society of Biomaterials, 2007 Annual Meeting, Chicago

4. Junping Wang, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Spiral Structured Nanofibrous 3D Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, Society of Biomaterials 2007 Annual Meeting, Chicago

5. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Junping Wang, Xiaojun Yu, Aligned Nanofibers on Complex 3-Dimensional Architectures for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Materials Research Society, Fall 2007 Meeting, Boston

6. Vadim Pinskiy, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Self-Assembled Multilayered Nanoparticle Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy, Materials Research Society, Fall 2007 Meeting, Boston

7. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Junping Wang, Xiaojun Yu, Functionalized Polycaprolactone Nanofiber Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, TERMIS 2008 Meeting, La Jolla, CA

8. Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Steven Defroda, Xiaojun Yu, Polycaprolactone and Bovine Serum Albumin Nanofibers for Controlled Release of Nerve Growth Factor, TERMIS 2008 Meeting, La Jolla, CA

9. Junping Wang, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Amy Shah, Xiaojun Yu, The Effect of Fiber Thickness on the Bioactivity of Nanofibrous 3D Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, TERMIS 2008 Meeting, La Jolla, CA

10. Elvin Lee, Chandra M. Valmikinathan, Harinder Bawa, Xiaojun Yu, Alginate Based Nanoparticles as a Temporary Red Blood Cell Substitute, TERMIS 2008 Meeting, La Jolla, CA

11. Chandra Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Layer-by-layer Deposition of Hydroxyapatite onto Spiral Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, Pittsburgh, October2009

12. Chandra Valmikinathan, Junping Wang, Xiaojun Yu, Impact of Geometries and Nano-Architectures of Nerve Grafts on Schwann Cells in Bioreactors, Biomedical Engineering Society, Pittsburgh, October2009

13. Chandra Valmikinathan, Wei Chang, Junping Wang, Xiaojun Yu, Self Assembled Temperature Responsive Surfaces for Cell Sheet Tissue Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, Pittsburgh, October2009

14. Qichen Wang, Chandra M Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Matthew Libera, Nanohydrogel Functionalized Polymeric Nanofibers, Materials Research Society, Fall Meeting, Boston, December 2009

15. Junping Wang, Chandra M Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Functionalization of Nanofibrous Spiral Structured Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, Materials Research Society, Fall Meeting, Boston, December 2009

16. Qichen Wang, Chandra M Valmikinathan, Xiaojun Yu, Matthew Libera, Surface Self-Assembled PEG Hydrogel Particles to Control Bacteria Biomaterial Interactions, Society for Biomaterials, Seattle, April 2010

17. Chandra M Valmikinathan, Vivek Mukhatyar, Ravi Bellamkonda, Photo-Crosslinkable Chitosan Hydrogels for Neural Tissue Engineering, Submitted to Society for Biomaterials

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