16. Jul 2020
Implants: Can special coatings reduce complications after implant surgery?
Here you find the doctoral student’s profile of Hala Al-Khoury. She published results of her doctoral studies at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg recently. InGrA portraits doctoral students, who published their results and share the research more widely with a press release.
- Hala Al-Khoury (Diplom Pharmacist)
- Research area: Biomedical Materials
- Institute of Pharmacy (link), MLU
Field(s) of expertise during doctoral studies:
- Fundamentals on inflammation following implantation
- Different surface modification techniques
- Cell culture and characterization with focus on macrophages
Curriculum Vitae
- Doctoral studies in Department Biomedical Materials of Prof. Dr. Thomas Groth at MLU
- Diploma in Pharmacy at Martin Luther University in 2015
- Bachelor in Pharmacy at Damascus University, Syria
Challenges, rewards and contribution
Q: What was your most important contribution to the publication?
A: I was contributing to the development of anti-inflammatory coatings and discovered details of the mechanism of anti-inflammatory action of glycosaminoglycans by investigation of a NF-kB signalling pathway specific for activation of leucocytes and other cells.
Q: What was challenging and what was a rewarding moment during your work presented in the publication?
A: The challenge was to show the suppressive effect of the drugs on the NF-kB after 24 h of macrophage seeding as long as the phosphorylation of NF-kB pathway is an on/off process. While, the rewarding moment was when I was successful to prove and illustrate the inhibitory effects and giving insight about the mechanism of action of the used drugs.
Significance of publication
New coatings on implants could help make them more biocompatible. Researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have developed a new method of applying anti-inflammatory substances to implants to inhibit chronic inflammation after implantation.
from press release no. 080/2020 of June 30, 2020
Related publication
Alkhoury, H.; Hautmann, A.; Fuhrmann, B.; Syrowatka, F.; Erdmann, F.; Zhou, G.; Stojanović, S.; Najman, S.; Groth, T.
Studies on the Mechanisms of Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Heparin- and Hyaluronan-Containing Multilayer Coatings-Targeting NF-κB Signalling Pathway.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21, 3724 (2020) doi: 10.3390/ijms21103724
About this profile
Doctoral students contribute significantly to publications highlighted by the MLU press office in many cases. These early stage researchers and their work in connection with the publication are in the focus of this profile.
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