Education
Jos obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Twente, Enschede in 2006. He graduated at the Polymer chemistry and Biomaterials group on “Stereocomplexation of poly(lactide)’s and their triblock copolymers”. He obtained Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering (Molecular, cellular & Tissue Engineering) at the same group with the Master thesis titled, “Porous poly(trimethylene carbonate) tubular scaffolds for tissue engineering small-diameter blood vessels”.
Summary of Research
In situ forming hydrogels for regeneration of cartilage
For a long time, cartilage defects were considered to be extremely difficult to repair due to the low regenerative capacity of articular chondrocytes. However, the development of the autologous chondrocyte transplantation technique and the progress of the tissue engineering field have suggested that repair of cartilage actually might be feasible. This led to the development of numerous strategies for repair or replacement of the damaged cartilage. Most of these methods are patient invasive were the joint is cut open so the scaffold can be placed at the site of the defect. A patient non invasive method would be more suitable and could help in the regeneration of cartilage. One of the promising approaches for a non-invasive method is an in situ forming hydrogel.
Hydrogels are water swollen, insoluble networks of crosslinked hydrophilic polymers. Due to their similarly with extra cellular matrix hydrogels have received much interest for their potential use in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. Many hydrogels have been found to be biocompatible with strongly reduced protein interaction, and their soft rubbery nature minimizes damage to surrounding tissue.
The most commonly used synthetic hydrogels are based on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Due to its high hydrophilicity PEG shows hardly any reactions with proteins and surrounding tissue, thereby causing attachment problems between the hydrogel and the cartilage tissue. In this project it is aimed to improve the attachment and interface between hydrogels and the cartilage tissue and thus facilitating an improved regeneration process of cartilage.
Publications
- Wennink, J.W.H., Song, Y., Poot, A.A., Vermes, I., Feijen, J., Grijpma, D.W. Evaluation of tubular poly(trimethylene carbonate) tissue engineering scaffolds in a circulating pulsatile flow system, (2011), International Journal of Artificial Organs, 34 (2), pp. 161-171. DOI: 10.5301/IJAO.2011.6396
- Song, Y., Wennink, J.W.H., Kamphuis, M.M.J., Sterk, L.M.T., Vermes, I., Poot, A.A., Feijen, J., Grijpma, D.W. Dynamic culturing of smooth muscle cells in tubular poly(trimethylene carbonate) scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering, (2011), Tissue Engineering - Part A, 17 (3-4), pp. 381-387. DOI: 10.1089/ten.tea.2009.0805
- Song, Y., Wennink, J.W.H., Kamphuis, M.M.J., Vermes, I., Poot, A.A., Feijen, J., Grijpma, D.W. Effective seeding of smooth muscle cells into tubular poly(trimethylene carbonate) scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering, (2010), Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A, 95 A (2), pp. 440-446. DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.32859
Jos Wennink defended his thesis titled “Biodegradable Hydrogels by Physical and Enzymatic Crosslinking of Biomacromolecules” on 27 March 2013
Contact Details
E-mail: J.W.H.Wennink@utwente.nl