Back in 2022, Michael Schulz, associate professor of chemistry, and John Matson, professor of chemistry, ended up at a pizza lunch with neurosurgeons from the Department of Neurosurgery, housed in the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. In this casual setting the pair spontaneously heard about a pressing need for the neurosurgeons.
One of the neurosurgeons mentioned that he performed a lot of back surgeries. There’s a thin membrane around the spinal cord, called the dura, that can sometimes tear during these spinal surgeries. When a tear occurs, it can lead to complications, and the surgeon commented that he needed a specific sealant that could be put over the tear to keep it from leaking.
The problem? There are already several sealants on the market, but none of them worked as surgeons would like them to.
To see the problem in action, Schulz and Matson watched a back surgery where ultimately, the dura tore.
“He finished the suture and said, ‘Okay, here's what I want to show you.’ He pulled out a two-barrel syringe, and he squirted the epoxy on the area with the tear — it ran everywhere and did nothing,” Schulz said, recounting the moment that sparked a new project.
This launched them into the process of developing a small patch that would allow the dural tear to heal, as opposed to the suboptimal sealants already on the market.
If they hadn’t collaborated with neurosurgeons, or hadn’t gone out to lunch, they would never have known there was a need for a new dural sealant. Upon just looking at the literature, Schulz and Matson would have seen the multiple dural sealants currently on the market, and moved on to find a different problem, assuming that one had already been solved. The project only came with having an actual conversation with surgeons, who would effectively be using this product.
Use-inspired basic research to find the niche
The link between fundamental chemistry and application in medicine is strong. Schulz and Matson partake in what many refer to as use-inspired basic research. They can find their pocket of discovery by collaborating with medical professionals that would directly benefit from their research and materials development.
The collaboration process for their use-inspired basic research has been an eye-opening experience. “It's like learning a foreign language. Every time we talk to someone outside our discipline the vocabulary changes, and there's a period where we're just trying to learn each other's ways of speaking about things,” said Schulz.
Continuous collaboration keeps moving things forward, highlighting different issues as they come along.
“It's fascinating to learn what their problems are. It provides insight into their lives and what it's like to be the surgeon, trying to fix somebody, and all the different ways that it's difficult — infection being a big one that comes up over and over again,” said Matson.
Schulz and his team are also developing antimicrobial coatings for catheters, and potentially other indwelling hardware, in collaboration with the Infectious Disease Division at the Carilion School of Medicine.
The researchers aim to develop a coating that medical professionals can put on the surface of a urinary catheter to prevent infections, specifically negative biofilm formations, or the slimy bacteria that can build up on these devices.
This medical material is critical because catheterization is a relatively common procedure for hospital patients, many of whom develop catheter-associated urinary tract infections. To treat them, medical professionals have to prescribe aggressive antibiotics and are usually required to remove the catheter. Researchers aim to cut down on those catheter-related complications with this antimicrobial coating.
Motivations for materials
As a graduate student, Schulz started working with clinicians and physicians to get their insights for the very beginnings of the scientific process, finding where he could help most.
“I’ve always been attracted to work that has a tangible impact out in society,” said Schulz.
He points to the fact that lots of his funding comes directly from the government, meaning it comes from taxpayers. “I usually like to conceptualize that in my mind as: can I explain to my neighbor why some portion of their taxes is going to pay for this thing that I'm doing? If I can't do that, then it suggests I should go do something else.”
Matson started with a different approach. He has worked on regenerative medicine for a long time, but this is generally at an earlier stage. On the other hand, the medical materials projects gave his group a chance to think a little further down the line, and gave them a chance to apply their regenerative medicine skills to a more finalized, tangible outcome.
Impacts on education
Fitting in with the Department of Chemistry’s educational mission, these projects are excellent training opportunities and allow researchers and students to see how they can make a positive impact in the world through their science. It also gives them the chance to work on interdisciplinary teams, with people that don’t necessarily have the same understanding of chemistry and think in a very different scientific way than themselves. They get practice at communicating their science, preparing them well for the world, where they will engage in various trans-disciplinary projects.
The values of practical application and societal benefit are at the heart of the department’s mission, fostering a culture of innovation that promises to shape the future of medical materials
By working closely with medical professionals, researchers like Schulz and Matson are not only addressing critical needs in healthcare but also providing invaluable training opportunities for students. These experiences prepare the next generation of scientists to make meaningful contributions in both academia and industry, ensuring that the impact of their work extends far beyond the lab.