A team led by Indian American research professor Madhu Dhar was among five faculty-led teams at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, each receiving a $50,000 award for the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund.
Dhar and Steven Newby, research assistant professor, in the College of Veterinary Medicine, received the award on April 7 for their project, Bioinks for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.
They have designed a novel replacement for standard steel and titanium surgical implants that can be used in animals and humans, according to a university release.
Their method uses a novel bioink — a nontoxic biodegradable resin compatible with healthy living cells. It can be tuned to mimic different tissues in the body and can be mixed with nanoparticles that support health outcomes.
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It will be used to rapidly 3D print implants tailored to patients’ specific needs.The award funding will help the team demonstrate the ink in action and prove its viability in animal surgical procedures.
They will fabricate implants using the Medical Device Innovation Core and the Dhar lab at the UT Center for Precision Health. Ultimately, they envision surgeons printing implants on-site to repair bones, cartilage, skin, and nerves, restoring patients’ quality of life.
Dhar, who received her PhD from the University of Pune, India, is the Director of the Tissue Regeneration Laboratory in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. She has a clinical focus in use of cell-based therapies for treatment of disease.
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Now in its third year, the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund strengthens UT’s entrepreneurial impact by bridging publicly funded academic research with private financing or licensure, creating clearer pathways for faculty to commercialize technologies developed through their research.
Awardees use the seed funding to refine their technologies, build and test prototypes, validate solutions and assess market opportunities as they advance their work toward real-world application.
“Turning research breakthroughs into real-world technologies is a key way in which we fulfill our responsibility as a land-grant university,” said Deb Crawford, vice chancellor for research, innovation, and economic development.