The Tissue Engineering, Orthopaedics & Mechanobiology (TOM) Group of the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR), at University of Bern, conducts translational research in the intersection of tissue engineering, biology and applied clinical research. The group is knowledgeable in musculoskeletal connective tissues, such as bone, cartilage, ligaments and tendons.
The primary aims of the TOM group are on one the hand to investigate cell therapy options to regenerate the intervertebral disc of the spine and on the other hand, to elucidate bone metabolism and signalling of the bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) in order to improve patient’s outcome of spinal fusion. To achieve these goals we apply a broad spectrum of methods, such as cell sorting, 3D hydrogel culture, organ 3D culture and specialized bioreactors that maintain the tissue’s mechano-biological requirements.
The common focus of the TOM group is to advance in vitro organ culture models, which match closely the human situation and where regenerative therapy strategies, such as novel biomaterials and cells, can be tested in a most authentic in vitro set-up.
