Ambiti di Ricerca
Prof. Zavan is head of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Medical Sciences Department of Ferrara University, Italy.
Regenerative medicine is the field of research using cells and other materials to either enhance or replace biological tissues.
Tissue engineering uses biomaterials and cells to produce new tissues. Stem cells have infused great excitement in the field as a potentially powerful cell source to rebuild tissues. Significant research focuses on understanding and harnessing the power of stem cells and on developing new biomaterials to guide cell behavior it’s the principal effort of the activity of Prof. Zavan.
Prof Zavan’s research seeks to understand how changes in stem cell activity impact tissue homeostasis and repair throughout life and to identify systemic molecules or surfaced modification are responsible for regulation of regenerative potential.
Moreover aim of Prof. Zavan’s research is to develop functional grafts that have the ability to direct cellular responses, to regulate the formation and integration of multiple tissue types, and to maintain long-term functionality when introduced into the body. Her group hope to achieve these goals by elucidating the fundamental mechanisms that govern cell-biomaterial and cell-cell interactions.
The main goal of her research has been achieved on Translational medicine; defined by the European Society for Translational Medicine (EUSTM) as an interdisciplinary branch of the biomedical field supported by three main pillars: benchside, bedside and community. The goal of TM is to combine disciplines, resources, expertise, and techniques within these pillars to promote enhancements in prevention, diagnosis, and therapies.
Translational medicine is a rapidly growing discipline in biomedical research and aims to expedite the discovery of new diagnostic tools and treatments by using a multi-disciplinary, highly collaborative, "bench-to-bedside" approach.
In this view important results has been obtained on pediatric field, maxillofacial surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery.
She has a multidisciplinary research group focused on both high quality fundamental science and translation for human health. Research in regenerative medicine within her group includes the directed differentiation of stem cells, the design of novel bioactive scaffolds and new approaches towards tissue regeneration. She has active collaborations with bioengineers, chemists and clinicians in order to study stem cell-niche interactions in vitro.
Research-at-a-glance:
Translational medicine: bench to bedside. Study in pediatric field, maxillofacial surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery.
Integration of Tissue Engineering and Systems Biology
Living Functional Materials
Functional Biomaterials for regeneration of several tissue such as: bone, cartilage, skin, vessel, dental pulp, nerve, liver, tumor environment;
3D bio printing
Advanced cell based therapies
Mesenchymal stem cells
Secretoma of stem cells
She has more over great experience on regulatory affair on advanced cell based therapy.
