Dena Shahriari

January 11, 2021

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Division:
Orthopaedic Research

Hospital Site:
Vancouver – Blusson Spinal Cord Centre

Dr. Shahriari is the PI of the BioAugmentative Interfaces laboratory which works at the intersection of materials science, electrical engineering, and medicine. Dr. Shahriari and her team invent and develop new tools and technologies to address challenges with paralysis and organ dysfunction among others. Dr. Shahriari joined the UBC Orthopaedics Department, the School of Biomedical Engineering and ICORD in January 2021. Her passion for improving the quality of life for those with paralysis is highlighted in her TEDx talk.

Research Interests & Publications

Research Interests:

  • Neural interfaces
  • Organ augmentation
  • Smart biomaterials
  • Axon regeneration

Publications:

Shahriari D, Rosenfeld D, Anikeeva P. (2020) “Emerging Frontier of Peripheral Nerve and Organ Interfaces”. Neuron, 108(2) pp. 270-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.09.025

Shahriari D, Loke G, Tafel I, Park S, Chiang PH, Fink Y, Anikeeva P (2019) “Scalable fabrication of porous microchannel nerve guidance scaffolds with complex geometries”. Advanced Materials, (30) pp. 1902021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201902021

Shahriari D, Shibayama M, Lynam DA, Wolf KJ, Kubota G, Koffler JY, Tuszynski MH, Campana WM, Sakamoto JS (2017) “Peripheral nerve growth within a hydrogel microchannel scaffold supported by a kink-resistant conduit”. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 105(12) pp. 3392-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.a.36186

Shahriari D, Koffler JY, Tuszynski MH, Campana WM, Sakamoto JS (2017) “Hierarchically ordered porous and high-volume polycaprolactone microchannel scaffolds enhanced axon growth in transected spinal cords”. Tissue Engineering Part A, 23(9-10) pp.415-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.tea.2016.0378

Shahriari D, Koffler J, Lynam DA, Tuszynski MH, Sakamoto JS (2016) “Characterizing the degradation of alginate hydrogel for use in multilumen scaffolds for spinal cord repair”. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 104(3) pp. 611-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.a.35600


For more information regarding Dr. Shahriari’s published research, please click here.

Academic Background

  • Post Doctoral Fellow at Bioelectronics Laboratory – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • PhD, Macromolecular Science and Engineering – University of Michigan
  • BS, Bioengineering – University of California, Berkeley