Week 8 – Old School Still Rocks!

Hope you all are doing well.  Science is a strange occupation.  I know that some of you may be saying that you understand that, but it’s not what you are thinking.  Many people learn a certain set of skills and they will apply those skills on a daily basis.  There are definitely exceptions to this rule in that a person might need to lean into some historical knowledge to solve a problem.  A car mechanic comes to mind.  For example, we are constantly driving our mechanic Bob crazy since we’ve always driven older vehicles.  I am always amazed at how Bob can troubleshoot a problem.  We tend to bring Bob some really obscure issues.  I am always amazed by his ability to dive back on his knowledge base over the years to solve the issue.  As Bob would testify, we’ve brought him some doozies over the years so on top of the apology for bringing him some headaches, this also serves to thank him for being able to always put out the fires.

The reason that I mention this is that research scientists tend to be like a good mechanic.  We must be able to have a good recall of what we’ve learned over the years and be able to apply it.  Sometimes, it may be a decade or more before you use a piece of knowledge but having that experience really helps.  When I first started my career at then Deaconess Hospital in Boston, I had just graduated college as a biochemist.  For those not familiar with the different sciences, biochemistry is more about the study of the components that make the living organisms and how they function.  Examples of this would be studying proteins, enzymes, DNA, RNA, etc.  You have likely heard of these when you hear about energy drinks, detergents and crime scene evidence. 

To my surprise, my first job in 1989 focused on trying to use this knowledge to change the surface of an artificial artery to make it more compatible in the body.  I knew absolutely zero about the synthetic material that made up the artificial artery.  I was fortunate to have a great mentor in Dr. Martin Bide, who is a now a retired textile chemist.  I had to first learn a lot about the materials before I could even apply my biochemistry “knowledge.”   I put knowledge in quotes because I had very little knowledge, only from some lab research I conducted my senior year of college and what I memorized from the course work.  I also looked at the patents that were available to me to review from the group, only to realize that the chemistry that was patented did not work.  Nothing says welcome to the big leagues when you don’t know the adjacent field, your roadmap is full of potholes and you have no experience to lean on. 

During those first several years, I was able to establish a good foundation in the medical device space, from understanding the compositions of the material and the issues associated with them to how to modify them and attach different compounds to create a desired effect.  I know to my non-scientist readers, this sounds like I am geeking out a little (I guess I am).  It is really to say that what you establish as your foundation can become important later.  Many of the niche things learned, which you think you might not ever use again, seem to come back around.

Fast-forward to 2003 (14 years later) when we opened BioSurfaces, some of these same skills would come back into use, just with a twist.  As you are aware, we started using the process of electrospinning to make materials for medical devices using the same base polymers that I was modifying in my first job.  While the electrospinning process was new to the company (and me too), the need to make the devices more compatible within the body did not change.  To target some complications, we could use the electrospinning process to deliver a drug or active agent right from the material which was new to me.  That being said, there were other complications that could not be treated in this fashion.  We went back to old school knowledge to take these advanced materials and using the original techniques we developed with some tweaks, modified them to attach proteins or other agents on the surface to make them more compatible with the body.   

Fast-forward to present time (37 years later), we have advanced our electrospinning capabilities to produce various types of materials for different medical device applications ranging from cardiac and vascular to dermal substitutes and gastrointestinal.  We can deliver target agents more precisely and effectively using our proprietary process.  Along with our internal studies, our Bio-Spun^® materials continue to be explored by various companies looking for the next generation of materials for their devices, whether it is a coating onto their existing devices or to serve as a stand-alone device component.  We are observing some of our partner’s existing technology and realize that some of our original techniques have been employed to make their current material.  We also can see where this old school technology could benefit some of the new ideas that we continue to explore.                 

My initial work that I did so many years ago continues to be applicable.  I hope it will be useful long after I have retired from my career.  My goal is to help the next generation learn about some of these techniques so that they can add their tweak or twist to continue to advance the technology.  So many new opportunities, so little time (and money).

Matt