My thesis objective was to develop reproducible nerve and cardiac stem/progenitor cell cultures as test platforms for biomaterials to be used in regeneration of nerve and cardiac tissue, respectively. These two cell types were selected, as both are conductive cells, and hence, the design of biomaterials scaffolding for both cell types is interchangeable. To facilitate evaluation of biomaterials being developed for potential tissue engineering and/or regenerative medicine applications, it would be prudent to have on hand both these progenitor cell types.

To date, I have established a cardiac progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation system, and a neuronal progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation system. I have also used the latter to test the effect of biomaterials composition and topology on neural progenitor proliferation and differentiation.