Beata Niemczyk-Soczyńska, M.Sc.

The concept of my research topic is dictated by my interest in manufacturing modern and functional solutions by combining thermo-sensitive injectable hydrogels and short electrospun nanofibrous materials for tissue engineering applications. Such a combination brings many benefits, i.e., injectability, sensitivity to the change of temperature, structural stability, and morphology that fairly mimics native ECM.

I am strongly motivated to have an active role in developing new strategies in the field of biomaterials.

Education and professional experience

1. Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, specialization: Thermosensitive in hydrogels loaded with short electrospun, bioactive nanofibers for tissue engineering application.
2. AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, specialization: Nanocomposite materials for medicine applications, M.Sc.
3. The University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Chemistry, B.Sc.

Research skills and interests

My research interests and, consequently, skills involve manufacturing smart hydrogel scaffolds susceptible to temperature change. Obtained this way, materials were systematically studied to assess their relevance for tissue engineering applications. Additionally, for the last several years, I have been involved in forming scaffolds using the electrospinning process, functionalization of their length, hydrophilicity, and bioactivity, as well as characterization via DSC, SEM, DMA, FTIR, WCA, viscometry, and others.

Current research and related projects

Project Investigator of PRELUDIUM 15 project funded by National Science Center (NCN) entitled: “Thermally sensitive hydrogels filled with bioactive nanofibers for regeneration of nervous tissue,” Grant number: 2018/29/N/ST8/00780.

The aim of the project is to obtain a thermosensitive, injectable hydrogel functionalized with electrospun, biologically active nanofibers and investigate the effect of such functionalization from the perspective of tissue engineering requirements. Combining hydrogel systems with nanofibers allows obtaining materials with a unique structure that fairly mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) and favorable properties from the perspective of applications in tissue engineering.

The hydrogel system consists of the following components:

1. Methylcellulose (MC) - polysaccharide providing inverse thermal crosslinking at the physiological temperature.
2. Agarose provides faster MC crosslinking kinetics and increases the mechanical properties of the hydrogel.
3. Electrospun short nanofibers formed of poly-L-lactide (PLLA) modified with laminin provide additional mechanical and structural support for hydrogel system, nanofibers size enabling their injection, and bioactivity (biologically active sites) that will ensure chemical and biological interactions with host cells.