Lavik, Erin, ScD.

Research Statement

My lab is interested in using biomaterials, drug delivery, and tissue engineering approaches to protect and regrow neural tissue. Our work spans from basic work engineering a neural stem cell niche to translatable work delivering off patent drugs in ways that protect and repair the nervous system.

Affiliations

• Investigator, Cleveland FES Center
  
• Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
  

Publications (Select)

• Hynes SR, Lavik EB. A tissue-engineered approach towards retinal repair: Scaffolds for cell transplantation to the subretinal space. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2010 Feb 19. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20169358.
• Robinson R, Bertram JP, Reiter JL, Lavik EB. New platform for controlled and sustained delivery of the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor AG1478 using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres. J Microencapsul. 2010 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20055747. 
• Bertram JP, Rauch MF, Chang K, Lavik EB. Using polymer chemistry to modulate the delivery of neurotrophic factors from degradable microspheres: delivery of BDNF. Pharm Res. 2010 Jan;27(1):82-91. Epub 2009 Nov 17. PubMed PMID: 19921405. 
• Williams CA, Lavik EB. Engineering the CNS stem cell microenvironment. Regen Med. 2009 Nov;4(6):865-77. Review. PubMed PMID: 19903005.
• Bertram JP, Jay SM, Hynes SR, Robinson R, Criscione JM, Lavik EB. Functionalized poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) enhances drug delivery and provides  chemical moieties for surface engineering while preserving biocompatibility. Acta Biomater. 2009 Oct;5(8):2860-71. Epub 2009 May 4. PubMed PMID: 19433141; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2749076. 
• Rauch MF, Hynes SR, Bertram J, Redmond A, Robinson R, Williams C, Xu H, Madri  JA, Lavik EB. Engineering angiogenesis following spinal cord injury: a coculture  of neural progenitor and endothelial cells in a degradable polymer implant leads  to an increase in vessel density and formation of the blood-spinal cord barrier.  Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Jan;29(1):132-45. PubMed PMID: 19120441; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2764251. 
• Bertram JP, Saluja SS, McKain J, Lavik EB. Sustained delivery of timolol maleate from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/poly(lactic acid) microspheres for over 3 months. J Microencapsul. 2009 Feb;26(1):18-26. Erratum in: J Microencapsul. 2009 Feb;26(1):26. PubMed PMID: 18465288. 
• Hynes SR, Rauch MF, Bertram JP, Lavik EB. A library of tunable poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(L-lysine) hydrogels to investigate the material cues that influence  neural stem cell differentiation. J Biomed Mater Res A. 2009 May;89(2):499-509. PubMed PMID: 18435406.

Research Programs

• Engineering vessels for repair of the CNS
• Synthetic platelets for hemostasis and neuroprotection
• Drug delivery for ocular diseases
• Building three dimensional models of CNS tissues

Contact Information