Speaker : Dr. Vini Gautam, ARC DECRA and Westpac Research Fellow in the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia.
Date : Thursday, November 15, 2018 - Time : 10:00 AM
Venue : CeNSE Seminar Hall
Abstract:
Interfacing optoelectronic materials with neuronal cells provides a platform for understanding the formation and function of neuronal circuits in the brain. Here I will present two examples from my research where I have utilized optoelectronic materials to engineer the growth of neuronal circuits and stimulate their activity.
I will first highlight the use of organic semiconductors as artificial photoreceptors for interfacing with the visual system. In these studies, I utilised the optoelectronic signals from organic semiconductor/electrolyte interface to stimulate neuronal cells and thereby elicit neuronal activity in a blind retinal tissue [1]. These results have implications for the development of all-organic retinal prosthetic devices. Next, I will give an overview of my current project, where I design nanoscale surface topography on biocompatible scaffolds to mimic certain biophysical features in the brain’s extracellular matrix [2]. I use these scaffolds to guide the growth of neurons, understand the formation of neuronal circuits and evaluate the neuronal network activity in response to the biophysical
properties of their surrounding environment. These results have implications for developing biocompatible scaffolds to regenerate neural circuits upon damage and injury.
The results from these cross-disciplinary studies have ultimate applications in the development of novel neuroprosthetic interfaces and strategies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
[1] V. Gautam et al. A polymer optoelectronic interface provides visual cues to a blind retina, Adv. Mater. (2014).
[2] V. Gautam et al. engineering highly interconnected neuronal networks on nanowire scaffolds, Nano Lett. (2017).
Biography: Dr. Vini Gautam is an ARC DECRA and Westpac Research Fellow in the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia. Vini completed her PhD (Materials Science) in 2014 from JNCASR, Bangalore where she worked on developing semiconducting polymer based optoelectronic interfaces for bionic vision. She has an experience of experimental techniques in both materials science and neuroscience, and is interested in studying the interaction of neuronal cells with various kinds of organic and inorganic materials for applications in neural tissue engineering. Her current research is focused on developing nanostructured scaffolds based on semiconducting nanowires for directing the growth of neuronal cells from brain tissues.