Congratulations to Ben Spearman for receiving a prestigious 2016 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. Ben joined the Biomedical Engineering Department at UF as a PhD student in 2014 after graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University. He joined Dr. Christine Schmidt’s lab where he is investigating the use of natural hydrogel scaffolds such as hyaluronic acid to aid in peripheral nerve repair and regeneration. His research proposal is focused on developing a tissue engineered, regenerative peripheral nerve interface. Current peripheral nerve interfaces are plagued by problems such as immune response and a lack of signal specificity. Integrating electrodes into a tissue engineered scaffold may help alleviate these issues by allowing for a more natural integration of electrodes into the peripheral nerve.
Congratulations to Ben on this prestigious honor!