IMI-NFG Research Spotlight

Dr. Ana Clara Marques
Instituto Superior Técnico
Lisbon, Portugal

As a visiting researcher, I spent the first three months of 2006* in Lehigh University collaborating with Prof. Himanshu Jain´s group. It was indeed a great experience which happened shortly after receiving my Ph.D. degree in new glassy materials for optical amplifiers in Portugal .

The work I carried out at Lehigh with the support of the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass (IMI-NFG) consisted of the preparation of bioactive porous glasses, by sol-gel, for bone scaffolding applications. The goal was to create a hierarchical pore structure with dual porosity, at the nano and macroscale, optimized for bone regeneration performance. This was a challenge for me, because it ran opposite to my Ph.D. goals, where the formation of pores had to be prevented while preparing the optical materials.

Dr. Ana C. Marques working on the bone-scaffold project at a lab in Lehigh University.

Fortunately, I got some encouraging results, which are going to be published in the near future and the team is seeking a patent on the method developed for preparing the scaffold.

During my stay at Lehigh, I enriched my knowledge of the American culture as well as other, since some of my colleagues are from other countries. I also had the opportunity to experience the winter at Lehigh, which is quite different from the relatively mild winter we usually have at Lisbon, the city where I live.

* Dr. Marques is currently in Lehigh University on her second Research Exchange Grant from February 1 to June 30, 2007.

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