Professor Elbert came to Washington University in St. Louis after his work as a postdoctoral fellow at ETH Zurich from 1997-2000.
Professor Elbert’s research interests are in cell and tissue engineering, protein adsorption and drug delivery.
His lab is currently developing new materials for the regeneration of heart tissue, blood vessels, cartilage and peripheral nerves. They are developing new hydrogel scaffolds that self-assemble in the presence of living cells, applying ‘bottom-up’ design principles. The materials are bioactive and are designed to resist protein adsorption.
“Modules’” are formed by a phase separation process, and are designed to carry out unique functions, for example, to deliver proteins or drugs, or to degrade to form interconnected pores. Assembly of the modules around the cells allows for the formation of multiple compartments that contain different cell types. The lab also studies the effects of blood proteins on the body’s response to synthetic materials.