Presenter Dr. Liza-Anastasia DiCecco
Dr. Liza-Anastasia DiCecco is a Postdoctoral Scholar in Biomedical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Her postdoctoral training is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Banting Fellowship, the most prestigious Canadian Postdoctoral Fellowship. She holds a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from McMaster University and was supported by the NSERC Vanier Scholarship, the highest valued Canadian doctoral fellowship.
Abstract
Many Canadians rely on orthopedic implants to lead comfortable lives, with increasing implant needs seen every year with aging populations. Patient-specific health conditions prevalent in elderly populations, such as osteoporosis, can further impact implant needs and overall peri-implant repair. Further, the biomineralization processes behind tissue repair at inorganic-organic interfaces are complex and far from being understood, though eliciting biomineralization mechanisms will help us better control them, leading to improvements in osseointegration. In this research seminar, Dr. Liza-Anastasia DiCecco will overview her research addressing North America’s growing implant needs and shedding light on fundamental biomineralization processes key to their repair through her two-faceted research program focusing on 1) the design of customizable patient-specific implants for musculoskeletal applications using additive manufacturing methodologies, and 2) advanced multiscale characterization, specifically involving novel liquid electron microscopy techniques to explore biomineralization dynamics in real-time at the nanoscale.