On the forefront of regenerative medicine.
The Sharma Laboratory
Our research focus is regenerative medicine, specifically tissue engineering and biomaterials in urologic, gastrointestinal and vascular regeneration models.
We study the regenerative applications of combining novel elastomeric scaffolds with specific stem and progenitor cell populations, and utilize nanomolecules and small molecules to customize microenvironments suited to specific regenerative processes.
The Latest From the Lab
Bladder buzz: technologies to improve bladder surgery and monitoring
A collaborative NIH-funded team at Northwestern University is working to change that. They are tackling the issues from two different vantage points: improving bladder function by utilizing a cell-seeded, biodegradable construct that both augments the bladder and facilitates tissue regeneration, along with enhancing patient monitoring by developing an implantable bladder sensor. Their research, many years in the making, has reached an important clinical milestone—evaluating their technologies in non-human primate models.
Implantable Sensor Could Lead to Timelier Crohn’s Treatment
Northwestern University scientists has developed the first wireless, implantable temperature sensor to detect inflammatory flareups in patients with Crohn’s disease. The approach offers long-term, real-time monitoring and could enable clinicians to act earlier to prevent or limit the permanent damage caused by inflammatory episodes.
Sensor Monitors Bladder Fullness
At A Glance
- A collaboration of researchers at Northwestern University developed a wireless implantable device that can monitor bladder filling and emptying in real time and send data to a smartphone.
- With further development, this type of device could help monitor recovery after bladder surgery and aid patients who have compromised bladder function.
Functional bladder tissue regenerated using bone marrow cells
Scientists from Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University succeeded in regenerating fully functional urinary bladder tissue in a long-term study utilizing a non-human primate model.
Prospects for Crohn's Relief Brighten With New Advancements
May 2, 2024 – More than 1 million Americans live with Crohn’s, a chronic and sometimes crippling inflammatory bowel disease that affects the intestines and leads to digestive issues. While some people may have mild symptoms or even be symptom-free at times, others get severe belly pain, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, anemia, and other life-threatening complications.
Synthetic ‘bladder patch’ promotes tissue regeneration, restores function
A research team led by SQI member Arun Sharma has developed a synthetic, flexible “bladder patch” that outperformed the current standard surgery for severe bladder dysfunction in a long-term, large-animal model — the last step before beginning clinical trials.
Neonatal stem cells from the heart could treat Crohn's disease
Research from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago found that direct injection of neonatal mesenchymal stem cells, derived from heart tissue discarded during surgery, reduces intestinal inflammation and promotes wound healing in a mouse model of Crohn's disease-like ileitis, an illness marked by chronic intestinal inflammation and progressive tissue damage.
Novel injectable therapy shows promise in treating Crohn’s disease
A team of Simpson Querrey Institute (SQI) researchers led by Arun Sharma has demonstrated that a direct injection of anti-inflammatory peptide amphiphiles (PAs) into intestinal lesions can reduce lesion size and inflammation in an animal model of Crohn’s disease, a chronic condition that is notoriously difficult to treat.