The objective of the postdoctoral project is to develop a hydrogel for the occlusion of blood vessels which can be introduced via a catheter. Natural, renewable polymers will be used as the building blocks and relevant properties of the biomaterial (e.g. gelation time, mechanical stability, long-term degradation) will be optimized by adjusting the preparation conditions. The potential of the hydrogels as drug-releasing embolic agents will be evaluated using in vitro and ex vivo models.
This interdisciplinary and challenging project is funded through the ANR project INHALE. The postdoctoral researcher will be based at CEMEF, a joint research center of MINES Paris – PSL and CNRS, located in Sophia Antipolis, France. The work will be carried out in close interaction with clinicians from Nice University Hospital, whose expertise will help ensure the clinical relevance of the developments and guide the definition of meaningful physiological and medical scenarios.
The project will also benefit from strong collaborations with partner laboratories bringing complementary expertise in biomedical characterization, such as TUHH in Hamburg and SAINBIOSE in Saint-Étienne. This research environment offers a rare opportunity to work at the crossroads of biomaterials engineering, polymer chemistry, biomedical research, and endovascular medicine within a highly interdisciplinary and medically driven project.
