Welcome to the Bioinspired Materials Lab
We are building innovative biomaterials to address significant challenges in biology and medicine.
Chemists, biologists, materials scientists, and engineers collaborate to create new materials we refer to as “bioinspired materials”. Our materials are “bioinspired” because they mimic some of the fascinating ways that nature builds materials – from sea shells to human organs.
We work closely with biologists to make fundamental scientific discoveries. We also partner with clinicians to create medical devices that can regenerate diseased or damaged tissues.
Our goal is to achieve high impact by pursuing groundbreaking discoveries, translating discoveries into new medical treatments, and training the next generation of leaders in regenerative medicine.
Lab Spotlight
November 2024
Dr. Margot Amitrano has defended her thesis titled; Screening Synthetic Hydrogels for iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocyte Differentiation and Maturation. Congratulations Margot!
Dr. Junsu Yun has defended his thesis titled; Development of biofunctionalized plant leaves for tissue engineering. Congratulations Junsu!
April 2024
Dr. Apurva Panjla has joined our lab as a Research Associate, welcome Apurva!
March 2024
Dr. Josh Choe has defended his thesis titled; Mineral coated microparticles for stabilization and delivery of therapeutic mRNA. Congratulations Josh!
January 2024
Jamie Jones has joined the Murphy Lab as a graduate student. Welcome Jamie!
We bid farewell to Dr. Jae Sung Lee, who is starting an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Restorative Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. He will also be affiliated with the Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics (MDRCBB). Congratulations Jae Sung!
Jack Burger has joined the Murphy Lab as a graduate student. Welcome Jack!
October 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Hannah Brinkman (Martin)! She has passed the defense of her thesis titled; “Combining Biomaterials and Immunotherapeutic mRNA to combat cancer”.
July 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Gianluca Fontana, who will be starting his new position as Scientist, at the Department of Surgery and Pediatrics, at the University of Verona in Italy.
Highlights
April 2023
Our lab attended the 2023 annual Society for Biomaterials meeting in San Diego, CA.
Dr. Joydeb Majumder; Research Associate, presented his research; Engineering human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural
tissue constructs for modeling neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity.
Hannah Martin Brinkman; graduate student, presented her research; Mineral coated iron oxide microparticles promote M1 macrophage polarization.
Margot Amitrano; graduate student, presented her research; High-throughput screening identifies hydrogel conditions for cardiomyocytes differentiation and maturation.
Josh Choe; graduate student, presented his research; Optimized minerals for stabilization and delivery of therapeutic mRNA.
Apoorva Ramamurthy; graduate student, presented her research; Induced pluripotent stem-cell derived synthetic neural constructs for brain cancer modelling.