On June 9, 2025, Dr. Si Chen and Dr. Martin Michálek from the FunGlass Center visited the LABORATORY OF CELL CULTURES AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE (BioMed) in Martin, Slovakia, where they met with our collaboration partner, Mgr. Henrieta Škovierová, PhD.. This collaboration has been initiated with the help of the Slovak national projects APVV-22-0036 (Slovak Research and Development Agency – Agentúra na podporu výskumu a vývoja) and VEGA-1/0057/23 (Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic – Vedecká grantová agentúra), as well as the CLiCAM project under the HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS programme. During the visit, they delivered borate-based bioactive glass scaffolds that had been fabricated by Dr. Chen using a CeraFab 3D printer at Lithoz GmbH in Vienna, Austria. These scaffolds are intended for use in bone tissue regeneration studies.
At BioMed, the scaffolds will be used for in vitro evaluations of cell–scaffold interactions as well as subcutaneous implantation studies in rats. During the animal experiments, our partners will utilize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor and assess the following:
These studies will provide essential data on the biocompatibility and tissue responses of the borate-based bioactive glass scaffolds, laying a solid foundation for their clinical translation in the field of bone tissue engineering.
Furthermore, both parties reached a preliminary agreement to jointly apply for a 2026 research grant from APVV, based on the data generated from this collaborative study. This partnership is expected to further advance research on borate-based bioactive glasses in regenerative medicine and foster broader scientific collaboration between the two institutions.
