Biomaterials - Collaboration and Release Policy

The objective of this Facility is to develop new types of substrates and produce substrates for quantitive analyses of cell migration. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in using any of these substrates or would like information about their use. The facility members are available for advice and technical assistance. Also contact us if you have ideas or suggestions for new types of substrates, which could be developed in collaboration with us. The design and validation of new substrates will generally involve a small group of scientists (the Development Team) and the description of their production and properties will be described in an initial publication. On acceptance for publication, the details of the substrates will be released on this website simultaneously to both the public and Consortium members not part of the Development Team. If you have developed substrates that you think might benefit the community, we can list them on our website, along with any supporting information.

Our general objective is to work interactively with laboratories interested in using these substrates. However the production of these substrates is time consuming and expensive and it may not always be possible to supply substrates to all interested parties. To facilitate wider application and development, the details of their preparation, as well as protocols for their use, will be posted on this website and/or in a cited publication.

Contact Information: Pre-fabricated surfaces may be designed in consultation with either the MIT or UIUC group and new surface architectures may be defined by collaborative efforts. Investigators are encouraged to visit both the MIT and Illinois laboratories to synthesize specific substrates so that the design and utilization of these substrates can be optimized. Typical turn-around times for small variations on previously fabricated structures is a few weeks. If significant development is required, e.g. to define a new surface linkage, then additional lead time is likely to be required. Please contact us at:

Prof. Linda Griffith
Biological Engineering
MIT 16-429
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139
(617) 253-0013 (voice) (617) 253-2400 (FAX) griff@mit.edu

Prof. Paul W. Bohn
Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
44 Roger Adams Laboratory, 600 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-0676 (voice) (217) 244-8068 (FAX) bohn@scs.uiuc.edu

Dr. Qian Wang
Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
45 Roger Adams Laboratory, 600 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-2111 (voice) (217) 244-8068 (FAX) wangq@uiuc.edu