ChBE Seminar - Materials and Surface Engineering to Control Bacterial Adhesion and Biofilm Formation

The Chemical and Biological Engineering Department will host a seminar featuring Associate Professor and Chemical Engineering Graduate Program Director for the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University, Dr. Dacheng Ren. The seminar will be Materials and Surface Engineering to Control Bacterial Adhesion and Biofilm Formation.

Abstract

Bacterial biofilms are hydrated surface-adherent structures with sessile bacterial cells embedded in extracellular matrices. With high resistance to antimicrobials, biofilms are ubiquitous and are a major cause of chronic infections in humans and persistent biofouling in industry. Despite the significance of bacterial biofilms, the mechanism of biofilm formation and associated drug tolerance is still not fully understood. By rigorously controlling surface chemistry, topography, and stiffness, we obtained important new information about the effects of these factors on biofilm formation and the roles of motility and cell-cell signaling. In this presentation, we will review our recent progress on this topic and discuss how to use the results to guide the design of anti-fouling strategies.