Prof. Dr.-Ing. Laura De Laporte
Laura De Laporte develops biohybrid and bioinspired materials for advanced medical applications, for example to replicate the complex structure of natural tissues. To achieve this, she is working on new synthetic material concepts and new methods of manufacture, combining engineering, chemistry and biology to design biomaterials that control and direct the interaction with cells. Her team designs low-invasive, polymeric regenerative hydrogel therapies, consisting of nano –and micron-scale building blocks that orient after injection to repair anisotropic tissues, such as the spinal cord. In addition, dynamic hydrogels are created for drug delivery and to study mechanobiology.
Resume
Laura De Laporte studied chemical engineering at Ghent University (Belgium). She received her PhD from Northwestern University (Evanston, USA) in the group of Prof. Lonnie Shea, where she developed guided implants for nerve regeneration. At EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland), she researched regenerative hydrogels in the group of Prof. Jeffrey Hubbell. From 2013 to 2018, Laura De Laporte led a junior research group at DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in Aachen and was awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council in 2015. In October 2017, she completed her habilitation at the Department of Chemistry of RWTH Aachen University. In 2018, she was one of five excellent female researchers who have received funding from the Leibniz Programme for female Professors and became an associate professor in the Chemistry Department with the teaching and research area Advanced Materials for Biomedicine. Since 2021, she is also part of the Institute for Applied Medical Engineering and affiliated to the University Hospital RWTH Aachen. In 2022, De Laporte received an ERC Consolidator Grant for the "Heartbeat" project. Since November 2024, she is head of the Chair of Macromolecular Materials for Medicine at RWTH Aachen University.
Selected professional functions, honors and awards
- Since 2021 Board of International Society of Biofabrication (ISBF)
- 2020-2021 Associated Editor ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
- Since 2020 Editorial Advisory Board Advanced Healthcare Materials
- 2019 Steinhofer Lecture
- 2018 Young Investigator Award - Engineering Conferences International
- 2016 Max Buchner Research Foundation
- 2008–2009 Terminal Year Richter Fellowship, Northwestern University
- 2008 AIChE Women's Initiatives Committee Travel Award, USA
- 2006-2008 Conference Travel Grant, Northwestern University (annual)
- 2006 CGM Travel Fellowship Award, USA
- 2004–2005 International Doctoral Fellowship, Northwestern University
Publications
| Titel/Autoren | DOI-LINK | Magazine | Jahre | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Biofunctionalized aligned microgels provide 3D cell guidance to mimic complex tissue matrices
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https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.02.001 | Biomaterials | 2018 | |
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Hierarchical Design of Tissue Regenerative Constructs
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https://www.doi.org/10.1002/adhm.201701067 | Advanced Healthcare Materials | 2018 | |
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Strong Photoacoustic Signal Enhancement by Coating Gold Nanoparticles with Melanin for Biomedical Imaging
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https://www.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201705607 | Advanced Functional Materials | 2018 | |
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Why the impact of mechanical stimuli on stem cells remains a challenge
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https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s00018-018-2830-z | Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences | 2018 | |
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An Injectable Hybrid Hydrogel with Oriented Short Fibers Induces Unidirectional Growth of Functional Nerve Cells
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https://www.doi.org/10.1002/smll.201702207 | Small | 2017 | |
|
High-Affinity RGD-Knottin Peptide as a New Tool for Rapid Evaluation of the Binding Strength of Unlabeled RGD-Peptides to alpha(v)beta(3), alpha(v)beta(5), and alpha(5)beta(1) Integrin Receptors
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https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00554 | Analytical Chemistry | 2017 | |
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Microfluidic fabrication of polyethylene glycol microgel capsules with tailored properties for the delivery of biomolecules
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https://www.doi.org/10.1039/c7bm00322f | Biomaterials Science | 2017 | |
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Nerve Cells Decide to Orient inside an Injectable Hydrogel with Minimal Structural Guidance
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https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01123 | Nano Letters | 2017 | |
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Cellulose Nanofibril Hydrogel Tubes as Sacrificial Templates for Freestanding Tubular Cell Constructs
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https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.5b01593 | Biomacromolecules | 2016 | |
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Bioactive gyroid scaffolds formed by sacrificial templating of nanocellulose and nanochitin hydrogels as instructive platforms for biomimetic tissue engineering
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https://www.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201405873 | Adv Mater | 2015 |
