Chase Cornelison

Ph.D. Student (UT)

Chemical Engineering
BMS J260, University of Florida

Phone: 352-273-6865
Email: rcorneli@utexas.edu

Year Joined Lab: 2011

Education

B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, 2011

Research

Injectable Peripheral Nerve Matrix for Repairing the Injured Spinal Cord

After spinal cord contusion or compression, an inflammatory cavity is formed due to extensive cell death and disruption of the local extracellular matrix. Using an optimized tissue decellularization protocol developed in the Schmidt lab, I am developing an injectable biomaterial derived from acellular peripheral nerve that will thermally gel. This material will be injected into the spinal cord cavity to stabilize the area and promote tissue repair. I will optimize material processing for neural cell survival and axonal extension before examining the therapeutic outcomes in a rat model of spinal cord injury. My hope is that this material may be used to create a lesion-specific scaffold which presents chemical and mechanical cues specific to neural function to enhance tissue regeneration and functional recovery.