Melissa Krebs
Associate Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering
There is a critical need for replacement tissues due to organ failure and tissue loss. The field of tissue engineering seeks to regenerate diseased or damaged tissues by providing the necessary physical, biochemical, and cellular cues that promote tissue regeneration. These approaches typically use biomaterial scaffolds, often with incorporated bioactive factors to help induce the formation of the desired tissue within a defect site. In the body, cells are influenced by a large host of factors, including soluble signals such as growth factors, insoluble signals that are components of the extracellular matrix surrounding the cells, and also the interaction of various populations of cells with each other.
Our group is interested in the development of biopolymer systems that will allow the study of cells’ interactions with their microenvironment and that can be used for tissue regeneration and therapeutics. We are investigating the controlled delivery of bioactive factors and therapeutics, the presentation of insoluble signals to cells, the effect of mechanical forces on cell behavior and tissue formation, and the influence that different cell populations have on one another. These advances will lead to improved biomaterial system design criteria. The applications that we are researching include growth plate cartilage regeneration, trabecular meshwork cell behavior that is important in glaucoma, diabetic wound healing, and bone and dental tissue regeneration. Ultimately, what we learn in our laboratory will help to improve patient therapies that are available in the clinic.
Contact
431 Alderson Hall
1613 Illinois Street
Golden, CO 80401
Office: (303) 273-3983
Fax: (303) 273-3730
mdkrebs@mines.edu
Research Group
- Bikram Adhikari, University of New Orleans
- Michael Stager, University of New Mexico
- Kathryn Scherrer, Colorado School of Mines
Education
- BS, MS – University of Rochester
- PhD – Case Western Reserve University
- Post-Doctoral Study – Case Western Reserve University and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Selected Publications
- Erickson CB, Newsom JP, Fletcher NA, Yu Y, Rodriguez-Fontan F, Weatherford SA, Hadley-Miller N, Krebs MD, Payne KA. Anti-VEGF Antibody Delivered Locally Reduces Bony Bar Formation Following Physeal Injury in Rats. Journal of Orthopedic Research, Accepted Nov. 8, 2020.
- Osmond MJ, Krebs MD*, Pantcheva MB*. Human Trabecular Meshwork Cell Behavior is Influenced by Collagen Scaffold Pore Architecture and Glycosaminoglycan Composition. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 117(10), 3150-9, October 2020.
- Erickson CB, Newsom JP, Fletcher NA, Feuer ZM, Yu Y, Rodriguez-Fontan F, Hadley-Miller N, Krebs MD, Payne KA. In Vivo Degradation Rate of Alginate-Chitosan Hydrogels Influences Tissue Repair Following Physeal Injury.Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part B – Applied Biomaterials, 108(6), 2484-2494, August 2020.
- Sener G*, Hilton SA*, Osmond MJ, Zgheib C, Newsom JP, Dewberry L, Singh S, Sakthivel TS, Seal S, Liechty KW*, Krebs MD*. Injectable, Self-Healable Zwitterionic Cryogels with Sustained MicroRNA-Cerium Oxide Nanoparticle Release Promote Accelerated Wound Healing.Acta Biomaterialia, 101, 262-72, January 1, 2020.
- Osmond MJ, Mizenko RR, Krebs MD. Rapidly Curing Chitosan Calcium Phosphate Composites as Dental Pulp Capping Agents. Regenerative Medicine Frontiers, May 8, 2019.
- Newsom J, Payne KA, Krebs MD. Microgels: Modular, Tunable Constructs for Tissue Regeneration. Acta Biomaterialia, April 1, 2019.
- Fletcher NA, Krebs MD. Sustained Delivery of Anti-VEGF from Injectable Hydrogel Systems Provides Prolonged Decrease of Endothelial Cell Proliferation and Angiogenesis In Vitro.RSC Advances, 2018, 8, 8999.
Honors and Awards
- 2020 Faculty Excellence Award
- 2017 Mines Inventor of the Year
- 2016 Daniels Fund Faculty Fellow Award
- 2013 Boettcher Investigator
- 2011 TERMIS Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award