PhD student position in Formation of Synthetic Bone Materials

Major responsibilities
We invite applications for a PhD position in the field of bionanomaterials and surface chemistry for the development of a synthetic bone material. The project includes nanomaterial synthesis using molecular self-assembly, drug-delivery, material characterization, and biological evaluations.

Tissue integration of foreign medical devices, such as implants and tissue regenerative scaffolds, has traditionally been controlled by the design of the object, the chemistry of the used material, and its surface topography. These properties have to be successfully applied in combination with the necessary mechanical strength and bioresorbability to assure good clinical results. For load bearing applications, materials such as metals, ceramics, and plastics are being used either alone or in combinations. However, only a few of these materials have yet the intrinsic property of reaching true tissue integration but are suffering from non-adhering fibrous tissue encapsulation or body rejection, or are lacking the desired mechanical properties. As a result, orthopedic implants, including hips and knees, have lifetimes of only 5-15 years and 10% of all dental implants fail within a time frame of ten years, justifying the need for radically new biomaterials and new principles of implant designs. One intrinsic suggestion to reach the desired properties is to develop materials that mimic the structure of bone. Dense bone is a composite with a complicated arrangement of micro-sized subunits consisting mainly of nano-sized mineral CaP particles embedded in a soft protein matrix. An optimal bone-substitution material should have the same load bearing capabilities as bone, be bioactive to reach true integration, and be regenerative in nature without forming any hazardous breakdown products. No material with all these desired properties have so far been developed. If highly improved technologies were to be developed to overcome these drawbacks, it would be a scientific leap that would not only enhance the success rates of today’s medical procedures, but also facilitate the possibility to help new groups of patients and the development of new types of surgical treatments. 

The objective of this research project is to develop a novel synthetic bone material with mechanical, chemical and biological properties comparable to human bone tissue. The material will be formed using a biomimetic approach resulting in bone-like calcium phosphate (CaP) nanoparticles perfectly arranged within a soft polymeric matrix. The formation procedure is based on the use of lyotropic liquid crystals consisting of self-assembled polymerizable amphiphilic substances combined with a bottom-up approach for controlled nanoparticle formation. The essential idea is that the CaP will be synthesized within aqueous domains of the liquid crystals, which after polymerization will function as a soft matrix. In this way the particles will be perfectly arranged and well separated from each other, creating a nano-composite material with a structure comparable to that of dense bone-tissue. This new design of ours, will provide a material with similar properties to bone regarding mechanical strength, with optimal tissue integration functionalities, which in combination with controlled bioresorbability will result in true bone regeneration. As a consequence, load-bearing implants/scaffolds that can be replaced by bone are attainable, which would result in optimally performing interface free tissue replacements. The new materials will be mechanically and physiochemically characterized and the materials’ biological properties investigated in vitro and in vivo, with the purpose to learn more about their adaptability to living tissue. The results from our studies will yield important insights into how molecular self-assembly may be used for producing nano-composite materials, such as bone, as well as into the mechanisms behind the biological response to such materials. If successful, the knowledge gained in the project will be decisive for the development of new state-of-the-art biomaterials for maxillo-facial and orthopedic applications. The research has a strong focus on material and surface chemistry, which together with preclinical evaluation has the ultimate ambition to bring novel materials to clinic.

Your major responsibilities as PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. You are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing, both in Swedish and in English. The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 per cent of working hours.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of four years and three months.

Qualifications
The position suits a highly motivated individual with a well-documented solid background in chemistry and  materials science. Previous experience with synthesis of nanomaterials using surfactant self-assembly and material characterization is desired, however not required. 

To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in Chemical engineering, Chemistry, Physics or other related disciplines.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application deadline: February 28, 2014

For questions, please contact:
Martin Andersson, +46 (0)31 772 2966; martina@chalmers.se