Branco Weiss Fellow Since
2022
Research Category
Regenerative Biology
Research Location
Institut Suisse de Recherche Expérimentale sur le Cancer (ISREC), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Background
In our society, a significant number of people suffer from limb loss or deformities and this number is expected to increase due to the rise in diabetes and vascular diseases. Yet, we do not have treatment options, other than using prosthetics. Investigation of amphibians (frog tadpoles and salamanders) that can regrow their lost arms and legs could inspire development of therapies. However, regeneration research is almost exclusively performed using animals, creating practical problems and hindering rapid advances. Moreover, it remains unclear why this ability is observed in only a select number of species and not mammals.
Details of Research
Dr. Can Aztekin will use bioengineering approaches to develop new simplified models to study limb regeneration, overcoming the impracticalities of in vivo experimentation. These models will establish high-throughput and physiologically relevant experimental systems to dissect mechanisms of regeneration. Moreover, Dr. Aztekin will perform cross-species comparisons, using computational biology approaches, to delineate the underlying reasons for limb regeneration-competency and -incompetency. Ultimately, these projects will accelerate limb regeneration research and reveal new insights into the determinants of limb regeneration.
