International research team collaborates on biofabricating skeletal muscle
Biomaterials engineer Dr habil Sahar Salehi-Müller, a research group leader at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, recently visited the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) to progress her research with a team led by Professor Andrea O'Connor from FEIT’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, and conduct lectures and exchange ideas with students and staff.
Dr habil Salehi-Müller’s visit was funded through a FEIT Visiting Fellowship for Gender Equality, which aims to foster collaboration between FEIT's female academics and external researchers through targeted networks.
By collaborating with Professor Gordon Lynch at the University's Centre for Muscle Research, Dr habil Salehi-Müller and the team are a step closer to their research goal – being able to develop skeletal muscle tissues for those who suffer from muscle atrophy or who have had significant injuries in an accident that resulted in a loss of muscle volume.
Developing a functional tissue model would also support pharmaceutical companies in drug screening steps and help save the lives of many testing animals, making this research highly relevant for clinical applications.
Dr habil Sahar Salehi-Müller.
"We hope to bring our research to life through actual applications in clinics here, which will bring us closer to our goal of benefiting human health. We hope the outcome of this research can be available to society within the next 15 years," she said.
"The Centre for Muscle Research has played a pivotal role in facilitating clinical applications and expanding our research network by connecting us with muscle specialists in Melbourne."
Biofabrication techniques are making it easier to produce more complex structures with greater precision. Dr habil Salehi-Müller says 3D bioprinting has the potential for surgeons to create and transplant custom-shaped tissue at the site of an injury in the operating room.
“Although this may seem like science fiction, we are hopeful that someday every surgeon will be able to 3D-print tissues and organs during surgery, saving the lives of those who suffer from tissue deficiencies,” she said.
Dr habil Salehi-Müller’s research in Bayreuth is focused on developing and processing heterogeneous materials with mainly fibre structures that would be suitable to biofabricate various types of tissues, including skeletal muscle.
Dr habil Salehi-Müller is the first woman to receive the prestigious title of habilitation – a teaching qualification in the German academic system – from the Faculty of Engineering Science at the University of Bayreuth in 2023.
She has been working on the research project, "Controlled biomechanics and architecture for stimulated skeletal muscle tissue engineering," with Professor O'Connor, Shanahan Chair in Frontier Medical Solutions, for the past four years.
"This collaboration marks a significant step towards exploring pathways in tissue engineering and biofabrication to address patient needs," Professor O'Connor said.
Dr habil Salehi-Müller said her research topic coincides perfectly with Professor O'Connor's expertise.
"I have been in contact with Melbourne for a long time, especially with Professor O'Connor," she said.
Dr habil Salehi-Müller in FEIT’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
“We were both members of the Bayreuth-Melbourne Colloid/Polymer Network, lecturers in the Master's Biofabrication program at the Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Bayreuth and in the world's first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the topic of biofabrication and biomaterials, which is available on the learning platform EdX.”
“As the University of Melbourne is a founding partner in the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) with pathways to translation and clinical trials, this collaboration is very important for Dr habil Salehi-Müller's research,” Professor O’Connor said.
“The Melbourne Biomedical Precinct brings together leading biomedical researchers, educators, hospitals, and industry to meet clinical needs.”