Doctoral thesis success: Vera Bednarzig

We congratulate Vera Bednarzig for successfully defending her doctoral thesis titled “Development and characterization of a 3D printed multi-layer composite implant to improve bone regeneration in critical size defects” on 24th February 2024. Vera carried out her doctoral project in our Institute supervised by Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini in the framework of an industrial (BMBF funded) project in collaboration with Dr. Rainer Detsch and industrial partners. The examination board was composed by Prof. Hermann Seitz (University of Rostock), Prof. Raymund Horch (University Hospital Erlangen), Prof. Sanna Virtanen (Chair of Surface Science and Corrosion, FAU) and Prof. Boccaccini. Congratulating Vera, Prof. Boccaccini highlighted the outstanding results obtained in her research project, focusing on the development of a layered implant by smart combination of metallic materials (Ti mesh) and hydrogels, including also bioactive inorganic fillers (e.g. bioactive glass particles) to improve bone contacting properties. 3D printing was the technique of choice to fabricate the different layers based on alginate or alginate-inorganic filler composite. Vera has published several papers, including the work generated directly from her thesis (Open Access publication) [1], and other papers are planned. Many congratulations to Vera for the successful defense of her doctoral thesis, we wish her all the best in her future career.

[1] V. Bednarzig, et al., Improved 3D Printing and Cell Biology Characterization of Inorganic-Filler Containing Alginate-Based Composites for Bone Regeneration: Particle Shape and Effective Surface Area Are the Dominant Factors for Printing Performance, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 23(9) (2022) 4750.