Laura Creemers, PhD, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dr Creemers studied Biology and Biomedical Sciences. After her PhD on collagen degradation in soft connective tissue, she has worked in several research areas, including ligament, tendon, bone and cartilage regeneration, finally focussing on cartilage and intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration at the dept of Orthopedics at the UMC Utrecht. With a special interest in biomaterials-based local delivery approaches for regeneration and treatment of inflammation, she has in the past years been involved in several projects on local drug delivery, targeting disc degeneration and osteoarthritis. After these projects on biomaterial -based delivery of FDA-approved small molecules at least one treatment is ready for clinical trial now.
In her ongoing projects, biomaterial-based delivery for inhibition of degeneration and stimulation of regeneration of the IVD and articular cartilage includes small molecules, proteins, peptides but also nucleic acids. Carriers vary from hydrogels and microparticles to nanoparticles. Research is done both in vitro and in in vivo models, the latter ranging from rat to large animals. Large animal studies, including canine patient trials are done in close collaboration with the dept of Companion Animals at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.