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The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering presents its fall 2024 seminar series featuring Settimio Pacelli, assistant teaching professor in the department, who will present “Addressing Deficient Angiogenesis in Diabetic Musculoskeletal Tissue Using Hydrogel-Based Models.” This seminar will take place on Wednesday, September 11, from 3:15–4:30 p.m. in room 131 of Perlstein Hall.

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance and hyperglycemia, leading to several deleterious effects observed in many tissues, including the musculoskeletal system. For instance, fat deposition and reduced capillary function are common traits found in both skeletal muscle and bone of patients affected by T2D. Based on these premises, there is a need to develop modeling and reparative strategies to study the adverse impact of T2D on skeletal muscle angiogenesis and identify therapeutic targets to restore angiogenesis. Specifically, the talk will focus on a tissue-engineering skeletal muscle model that can closely mimic metabolic and structural changes occurring in skeletal muscle during diabetes, along with drug delivery platforms designed to deliver proteins and peptides to restore angiogenesis. Finally, the seminar will provide future directions in this area of research, highlighting the importance of bone-skeletal muscle crosstalk as a possible approach to restoring a healthy microvasculature.

Biography

Settimio Pacelli obtained his master’s degree in chemistry and pharmaceutical technology and his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science at the Sapienza University of Rome in 2015. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kansas until July 2019 in hydrogel design for controlled drug delivery and bone tissue engineering applications. He has continued his efforts as a research scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, creating skeletal muscle engineering models to study the deleterious effect of type 2 diabetes on skeletal muscle angiogenesis. Currently, he is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Illinois Tech, and he serves as one of the junior faculty affiliates for the Center of Learning Innovation at Illinois Tech. He is the recipient of the 2022 Burroughs Welcome Young Investigator Award and he has been a part of the BMES education committee since August 2023.

His research interests include the chemical functionalization of natural polymers to obtain materials with precise and controllable physical, mechanical, and biological properties. He is also involved in developing and characterizing hydrogel-based materials using natural polymers in combination with nanomaterials for drug and protein delivery. Finally, he has focused his past efforts on biomaterial design to control stem cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation to enhance their therapeutic potential in tissue engineering applications and personalized medicine.