BACKGROUND
Tim received his Master degree in Biotechnology from Wageningen University, The Netherlands in August 2009. During his Master he specialized in tissue engineering by doing his Master thesis on bioreactors in bone tissue engineering in the department of Tissue Regene 2009. During his Master he specialized in tissue engineering by doing his Master thesis on bioreactors in bone tissue engineering in the department of Tissue Regeneration, University of Twente, Enschede, followed by an internship on bioreactors in cartilage tissue engineering in the CReATE group at Otago University Christchruch, New Zealand.
Summary of Research
Optimalisation of a bioreactor system for the evaluation of bioactive materials
About 1.5 million patients in the Netherlands suffer from osteoarthritis and this number is expected to grow each year. Once cartilage is damaged, due to trauma or age related wear, repair of the defect site is slow due to the limited healing capacity of cartilage. This almost inevitably leads to gradual progression towards osteoarthritis. Currently, treatment aims at either relieving pain by administering drugs, exercise or altering the lifestyle of the patient. However, the drugs on the market cannot be applied systematically.
In this project we will develop a novel bioreactor system in which we can simulate the dynamic environment of the knee joint. After optimizing this bioreactor system it can be used to evaluate novel bioactive materials for administering drugs to osteoarthritic cartilage.
Another research line aims at determining gradients of nutrients, like glucose and oxygen and growth factors for an tissue engineering approach for the in vitro development of articular cartilage with mechanical properties similar to native tissue.
Publications
Higuera, 2011, Patterns of Amino Acid Metabolism by Proliferating Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21943055)
Contact details:
Tim Spitters, Msc
Department of Developmental BioEngineering
Building Zuidhorst, Room no: ZH129
Drienerlolaan 5
7522NB Enschede, The Netherlands
Phone: +31-(0)53-489-3019
E-mail: t.w.g.m.spitters@utwente.nl