Jakob Townsend, PhD

Colorado State University

Hydrogel Development for Cranial Bone Regeneration and Application to Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr. Jakob Townsend is a research assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering at Colorado State University. Dr. Townsend earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2017 from the University of Oklahoma, and his BS in Bioengineering in 2014 from Oregon State University. Dr. Townsend’s primary research interest is regenerative medicine, with a focus on the development of biomaterials for craniofacial bone regeneration, traumatic brain injury treatment, and pediatric tracheal stenosis. He is the CEO of Leefa Biotech and was previously awarded a NIH Phase I SBIR grant to investigate a novel craniofacial bone void filler for preclinical development.

Abstract

To achieve a single-stage TBI treatment, we have identified two major gaps in current knowledge that must be addressed: 1) regeneration of the missing cranial bone and 2) reduction of brain injury. The key to our approach is made possible by the complementary delivery of our newly discovered osteogenic peptide from bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-4 for bone regeneration and localized delivery of adropin from microspheres to enhance neural repair and regeneration. Our unique strategy combines the fields of craniofacial bone regenerative medicine and TBI, with a comprehensive approach to synergistically treat neurologic deficits and bone regeneration.