PhD by Research Programme (Neuroscience and Mental Health)

Associate Professor Chew Sing Yian, LKCMedicine

Co-supervisor:

Professor Dean Nizetic, LKCMedicine

Project Description:
Spinal cord injuries (SCI) result in tremendous healthcare burden due to early loss of function in patients. Associated with such traumatic nerve injuries are nerve degeneration and demyelination. Unfortunately, currently available clinical approaches do not directly tackle these issues but rely mainly on preserving and preventing further deterioration of the injured nerve. The overall objective of this project is to develop a scaffold-mediated gene silencing approach to direct remyelination and nerve regeneration in traumatic nerve injuries after SCI. We will focus on controlling remyelination, nerve regeneration and functional recovery in an injured spinal cord using RNA interference via microRNA delivery.
The scope of the project includes:

1. Synthesize and characterize gene-silencing scaffolds for spinal cord injury treatment.     a. Establish a robust method to incorporate microRNAs (miRNAs) into scaffolds using electrospinning.     b. Characterize the physical properties of miRNA-incorporated scaffolds in terms of fiber diameter; drug distribution; release kinetics and bioactivity.     c. Understand cellular interactions with gene-silencing scaffolds by evaluating cell phenotypic changes in vitro (proliferation, apoptosis, morphology, differentiation, gene and protein expression changes).
2. Evaluate the potential of gene-silencing scaffolds in enhancing in vivo remyelination, axonal growth and functional recovery in spinal cord injury treatment.

If you have questions regarding this project, please email the Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Chew Sing Yian, LKCMedicine, at sychew@ntu.edu.sg

Please refer to the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine website for programme information - http://www.lkcmedicine.ntu.edu.sg/Pages/default.aspx