Huinan Liu

The National Science Foundation awarded a $175,000 grant for research aimed at developing biodegradable medical implant materials that would promote tissue regeneration and disappear after serving their functions in the body.

Huinan Liu, an assistant professor of bioengineering in the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, received the grant, which will allow her to continue her research for the next two years.

Liu's work will focus on using magnesium-based alloys in medical implants. She is seeking to find alloys and surfaces that promote tissue growth and degrade naturally in the body before being released through urine.

The biodegradable implants would have a wide range of uses. In orthopedics, they could be used to repair everything from knee and hip joints to ligaments to rotator cuffs; for vascular applications, such as stenting and grafting; and there would also be uses for facial reconstruction and spinal injuries.

The grant also has an education component to it. Liu, in conjunction with UC Riverside's ALPHA Center, will coordinate public outreach events that will show people how nanoscience and nanotechnology can impact health. She also is developing a tissue engineering class for the Bourns College of Engineering and will serve as a mentor to graduate and undergraduate students working on this research.