{"id":732,"date":"2025-09-23T11:36:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/?page_id=732"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:58:33","slug":"biomaterials","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/","title":{"rendered":"Biomaterials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center utkwds-superhead has-condensed-font-family has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--small);padding-bottom:0;font-style:italic;font-weight:400;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">Department Research Areas<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" style=\"margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--x-small);line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">Biomaterials<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-595b9278 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--x-small);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--x-small)\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-orange-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-orange-background-color has-background\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From wound dressing and drug delivery to medical device innovation, biomaterials play a crucial role in modern medicine and biotechnology. As the global population ages and chronic diseases become more prevalent, the demand for advanced biomaterials continues to grow. In addition to synthetic materials, new research in this field is expanding the potential of biomaterials to better mimic human tissues, improve biocompatibility, and promote healing while reducing infection. Biomaterial researchers also engineer new tools to improve fundamental understanding of biological systems.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-f495bdbc wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--small);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--small)\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Participating Faculty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following faculty work on research around biomaterials. Visit their profile pages to learn more about their specific areas of research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide utkwds-link-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--medium);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--medium)\">\n<ul style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--large)\" class=\"wp-block-list is-style-utkwds-link-group-3up\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/faculty\/dacheng-ren\/\">Dacheng Ren<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/faculty\/bryan-good\/\">Bryan Good<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/faculty\/jacqueline-johnson\/\">Jacqueline Johnson<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sample Projects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-utk-wds-accordion\"><div data-accordion=\"true\" class=\"utk-wds-accordion-wrapper\" data-color-scheme=\"light\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-utk-wds-accordion-panel\"><h3 class=\"utk-wds-accordion__heading\" data-accordion-heading=\"true\"><div><strong>Bioinspired antifouling biomaterials<\/strong><\/div><\/h3><section data-accordion-section=\"true\"><div class=\"utk-wds-accordion__panel-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ren lab is interested in engineering new biomaterials to prevent bacterial colonization and biofilm formation, the root cause of medical device associated infections. The team developed two new strategies (named dynamic topography and active topography) to create smart biomaterials that can change surface topography on demand. The team demonstrated that these approaches can effectively remove bacterial biofilms by 3 logs and sensitize the detached cells to conventional antibiotics. For example, Ren lab developed a new antifouling strategy based on active topography that drives magnetically responsive micron-sized pillars to beat with a tunable frequency and force level. This novel design demonstrated strong antifouling activities that can inhibit biofilm formation of multiple species and remove established biofilms. Recently, the team further improved this system by coating the pillars with mucin, a host-derived protein involved in innate immunity. This bioinspired design enhances biofilm disruption through not only mechanical forces but also interruption of bacterial motility via biological interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-1024x374.png\" alt=\"Active topography for long-term biofilm control.\" class=\"wp-image-733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-1024x374.png 1024w, https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-300x110.png 300w, https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-768x280.png 768w, https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-1536x561.png 1536w, https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography.png 1999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 1. Active topography for long-term biofilm control.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Representative publications:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zehui Han, Yikang Xu, Huan Gu, Teng Zhang, Dacheng Ren. \u201cBiofilm Control by Active Topography with Mucin Coating\u201d Advanced Functional Materials. 35, 2422753 (2025). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/adfm.202422753\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/adfm.202422753<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sang Won Lee, K. Scott Phillips, Huan Gu, Mehdi Kazemzadeh-Narbat and Dacheng Ren. \u201cHow microbes read the map: effects of implant topography on bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation.\u201d Biomaterials. 268, 120595 (2021). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2020.120595\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2020.120595<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Huan Gu, Sang Won Lee, Joseph Carnicelli, Teng Zhang and Dacheng Ren. \u201cMagnetically driven active topography for long-term bio\ufb01lm control.\u201d Nature Communications. 11, 2211 (2020). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-020-16055-5\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-020-16055-5<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Department Research Areas Biomaterials From wound dressing and drug delivery to medical device innovation, biomaterials play a crucial role in modern medicine and biotechnology. As the global population ages and chronic diseases become more prevalent, the demand for advanced biomaterials continues to grow. In addition to synthetic materials, new research in this field is expanding [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":731,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"no-title","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-732","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Department Research Areas Biomaterials From wound dressing and drug delivery to medical device innovation, biomaterials play a crucial role in modern medicine and biotechnology. As the global population ages and chronic diseases become more prevalent, the demand for advanced biomaterials continues to grow. In addition to synthetic materials, new research in this field is expanding [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Biomedical Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T19:58:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/\",\"name\":\"Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/active-topography-1024x374.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-23T15:36:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-01T19:58:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/active-topography.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/active-topography.png\",\"width\":1999,\"height\":730,\"caption\":\"Active topography for long-term biofilm control.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/biomaterials\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Research\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Research Areas\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/research\\\/areas\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Biomaterials\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/\",\"name\":\"Department of Biomedical Engineering\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/bme\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering","og_description":"Department Research Areas Biomaterials From wound dressing and drug delivery to medical device innovation, biomaterials play a crucial role in modern medicine and biotechnology. As the global population ages and chronic diseases become more prevalent, the demand for advanced biomaterials continues to grow. In addition to synthetic materials, new research in this field is expanding [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/","og_site_name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering","article_modified_time":"2026-07-01T19:58:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1999,"height":730,"url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/","url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/","name":"Biomaterials - Department of Biomedical Engineering","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography-1024x374.png","datePublished":"2025-09-23T15:36:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-01T19:58:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/active-topography.png","width":1999,"height":730,"caption":"Active topography for long-term biofilm control."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/biomaterials\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Research Areas","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/research\/areas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Biomaterials"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/","name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/732\/revisions\/886"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/bme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}