From Mineral to Matrix: Multiscale Insights into Bioinspired Structural Biomaterials
Nov 7, 2025
2:30PM to 3:30PM
Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/11/2025
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Categories
Prof. Liza-Anastasia DiCecco
Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo
Many Canadians rely on orthopedic implants to lead comfortable lives, with increasing implant needs seen every year. Patient-specific musculoskeletal disorders prevalent in elderly populations, such as osteoporosis, can compromise mineralized hard tissues and further impact implant success and peri-implant repair. The biomineralization processes underlying tissue repair are complex and not fully understood, yet elucidating these mechanisms will lead to better control over them and improvements in osseointegration.
In this presentation, Dr. Liza DiCecco will introduce her research program, which addresses North America’s demand for improved hard-tissue implants by exploring their interactions with biological systems. Her team, the Regenerative Biomaterials Innovation Group (RBIG), focuses on two facets: 1) designing tunable bioactive implant biomaterials using additive manufacturing means for musculoskeletal applications to meet patient-specific needs, and 2) fundamentally exploring biomineralization mechanisms at inorganic-organic interfaces and probing the influence of different promoters and inhibitors to control these processes. Utilizing state-of-the-art instruments to develop multiscale characterization workflows, including using novel liquid-phase electron microscopy approaches, RBIG links structure-function relationships of biomaterials across the atomic to macro scales.
Biography:
Dr. Liza-Anastasia DiCecco is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where she teaches within their Biomedical Engineering Program and is affiliated to the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN). The DiCecco Team, known as the Regenerative Biomaterials Innovation Group (RBIG), explores biomimetic implant development and fundamental biomineralization processes. Her team leverages advanced multiscale characterization tools to explore biomaterials with new lenses – using materials science approaches to answer life science questions.
In-Person: ABB 102
Online: Echo360