About me
Albert Einstein has said 'if you have never failed, you never tried anything new'. Integrating your expertise into new areas outside your domain of expertises and taking calculated risks, makes one a productive scientist.
I am an organic chemist by training and a biologist at heart. Harnessing the transformative power of synthetic chemistry for biomedical application is the primary goal of my research. I aim to bridge this knowledge gap and develop translational technologies for various biomedical needs. As a trained organic chemist, I have the advantage of being able to tailor the properties of the materials and thus tune their immunological and cellular functions. Currently, my research spreads over diverse areas: Nanomedicine, drug delivery, gene delivery, cardiac and bone tissue engineering, stem cell engineering for transplantation, immunomodulation of cells and materials and developing bioconjugation strategies.
Responsibilities
Teaching Responsibilities: I am the course coordinator for two Master’s courses, namely: Nanomedicine & Advanced Drug Delivery Technologies(BBT.BTE.306, 5 ECTS), and Tissue Engineering Applications (BBT.BTE.304, 5 ECTS). The essence of my teaching philosophy is that research and teaching are strongly coupled. As these two subjects are close to my research activity, the content of my lectures are structured such that research and application are strongly engaged. The lectures are research-oriented compilations of state-of-the-artdevelopments in the scientific fields.
Research Mentor: I am currently supervising three Ph.D. student; Mr. Sumanta Samanta, Mr. Austin D. Evans, and Ms. Negin Pournoori and three Master’s students. The supervision includes designing new projects, monitor overall academic progress, giving training in fabrication and characterization of soft materials and nanoparticles. I have developed my research supervision strategy based on my interactions with research students.
Main positions of trust
● Remote reviewer for ERC Starting Grant (PE11 Panel; 2021)
● Associate Editor, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
● Co-founder and partner of a spin-off called ‘Uppsala Therapeutics AB’
● Editorial board member of the journal ‘Frontiers in Nanotechnology’
● International Advisory Board Member for H2020 ERA-Chair project TRANSCEND-IRO (ESEI-BioMed)-Romania (2020-2026)
● Scientific Advisory Board Member, European Society of Biomaterials
● Scientific board member of European Chapter Meeting of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society
● Expert grant reviewer in ‘Discipline for Physical Sciences and Engineering’ for the National Science Center, Poland (2016-2018)
● Expert grant reviewer for ‘Sir Henry Welcome Trust Post-Doctoral Fellowship’, UK. (2021)
● Guest editor of the JuFo1 journal ‘Disease Markers’ an open access journal from Hindawi
● 2016- Organizing Committee Member and Scientific Advisory Board, TERMIS Europe 2016/ Uppsala/ Sweden
● May 2012 Organizing Committee Member and Sessions Chair/ 22nd Interdisciplinary Research Conference on Biomaterials, ‘GRIBOI’/ Uppsala University/ Sweden
● Reviewer for the leading peer-reviewed journals: Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials; Biomaterials; Biomacromolecules; ACS Applied Materials and Interface; Scientific Reports; Acta Biomaterialia; Chemical Communications; Small; Nanoscale; Biomaterials Science; Macromolecular Bioscience; Molecular Biosystems; RSC Advance; Journal of Materials Chemistry B; Soft Matter, etc.
Research unit
Research fields
Tissue Engineering of Tumor Microenvironment, Nanomedicine, Engineering 3D scaffold, Bioconjugation Chemistry, Cell Engineering
Funding
Selected publications
Some of my selected publications in the field of nanomedicine, drug and gene delivery, cell engineering & tissue engineering.
Biomimetic polyelectrolyte coating of stem cells suppresses thrombotic activation and enhances its survival and function, V. K. Rangasami, K. Asawa, Y. Teramura, K. L. Blanc, B. Nilsson, J. Hilborn, O. P. Varghese, O. P. Oommen, Biomaterials Advances, 2023, 147, 213331.
Hyaluronic acid based next generation bioink for 3D bioprinting of human stem cell derived corneal stromal model with innervation, A. Moro, S. Samanta, L. Honkamäki, V. K. Rangasami, P. Puistola, M. Kauppila, S. Narkilahti, S. Miettinen, O. P. Oommen, H. Skottman, Biofabrications, 2023, 15 (1), 015020.
Heparin-derived theranostic nanoprobes overcome the blood-brain barrier and target glioma in murine model, S. Samanta, V. Le Joncour, O. Wegrzyniak, V. Rangasami, H. Ali-Loytty, T. Hong, R. K. Selvaraju, O. Aberg, J. Hilborn, P. Laakkonen, O. P. Varghese, O. Eriksson, H. Cabral, O. P. Oommen, Advanced Therapeutics, 2022, 2200001
Bidirectional cell-matrix interaction dictates neuronal network formation in a brain mimetic 3D scaffold, S. Samanta, L. Ylä-Outinen, V. K. Rangasami, S. Narkilahti and O. P. Oommen, Acta Biomaterialia, 2022, 140, 314-323.
Interpenetrating gallol functionalized tissue adhesive hyaluronic acid hydrogel polarizes macrophages to an immunosuppressive phenotype, S. Samanta, V. K. Rangasami, H. Sarlus, J. R. K Samal, A. D. Evans, V. S Parihar, O. P. Varghese, R. A. Harris, O. P. Oommen, Acta Biomaterialia, 2022, 142, 36-48.
Pluronic Micelle-Mediated Tissue Factor Silencing Enhances Hemocompatibility, Stemness, Differentiation Potential, and Paracrine Signaling of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, V. K. Rangasami, G. Nawale, K. Asawa, S. Kadekar, S. Samanta, B. Nilsson, K. N Ekdahl, S. Miettinen, J. Hilborn, Y. Teramura, O. P. Varghese, O. P. Oommen, Biomacromolecules, 2021, 22 (5), 1980-1989.
Harnessing hyaluronic acid-based nanoparticles for combination therapy: A novel approach for suppressing systemic inflammation and to promote antitumor macrophage polarization, V. K. Rangasami, S. Samanta, V. S, Parihar, K. Asawa, K. Zhu, O. P. Varghese, B. Nilsson, J. Hilborn, R. A. Harris, O. P. Oommen, Carbohydrate Polymers, 2021, 254, 117291.
ILC1 drive intestinal epithelial and matrix remodelling, G. M. Jowett, M. D. A. Norman, T. T. L. Yu, P. Rosell Arévalo, D. Hoogland, S. T. Lust, E. Read, E. Hamrud, N. J. Walters, U. Niazi, M. W. H. Chung, D. Marciano, O. S. Omer, T. Zabinski, D. Danovi, G. M. Lord, J. Hilborn, N. D. Evans, C. A. Dreiss, L. Bozec, O. P. Oommen, C. D. Lorenz, R. M. P. da Silva, J. F. Neves, E. Gentleman, Nature Materials 2021, 20 (2), 250-259.
Unexpected role of hyaluronic acid in trafficking siRNA across cellular barrier: First biomimetic, anionic, non-viral transfection method, M. Paidikondala, V. K. Rangasami, G. N. Nawale, T. Casalini, G. Perale, S. Kadekar, G. Mohanty, T. Salminen, O. P. Oommen,* O. P. Varghese,* Angew. Chem. Int. Edn., 2019, 58 (9), 2815-2819.
Tissue Adhesive Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Sutureless Stem Cell Delivery and Regeneration of Corneal Epithelium and Stroma, L. Koivusalo, M. Kauppila, T. Ilmarinen, S. Samanta, V. S. Parihar, S. Miettinen, O. P. Oommen,* H. Skottman,* Biomaterials, 2019, 225, 119516.
First Aldol Cross-linked Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel: Fast and Hydrolytically Stable Hydrogel with Tissue Adhesive Properties, D. Bermejo-Velasco, S. Kadekar, M. V. T. da Costa, O. P. Oommen, K. Gamstedt, J. Hilborn, O. P. Varghese, ACS Applied Materials and Interface, 2019, 11 (41), 38232-38239.
Bi-directional cell-pericellular matrix interactions direct stem cell fate, S. A. Ferreira, M. S. Motwani, P. A. Faull, A. J. Seymour, T. T.L. Yu, M. Enayati, D. K. Taheem, E. M. Kania, O. P. Oommen, T. Ahmed, S. Loaiza, K. Parzych, F. Dazzi, H. W. Auner, O. P. Varghese, F. Festy, A. E. Grigoriadis, A. P. Snijders, L. Bozec, E. Gentleman, Nature Communications, 2018, 9, 4049.
Synthetic design of growth factor sequestering extracellular matrix mimetic hydrogel for promoting in vivo bone formation, H. Yan, T. Casalini, G. Hulsart-Billström, S. Wang, O. P. Oommen, M. Salvalaglio, S. Larsson, J. Hilborn, O. P. Varghese, Biomaterials 2018, 161, 190-202.
Multifunctional Hyaluronic Acid and Chondroitin Sulfate Nanoparticles: Impact of Glycosaminoglycan Presentation on Receptor Mediated Cellular Uptake and Immune Activation, O. P. Oommen,* C. Duehrkop, B. Nilsson, J. Hilborn and O. P. Varghese, ACS Applied Materials and Interface, 2016, 8, 20614–20624
Chondroitin Sulfate Coated Gold Nanoparticles: A New Strategy to Resolve Multidrug Resistance and Thromboinflammation, D. Gurav, O. P. Varghese, O. A. Hamad, B. Nilsson, J. Hilborn, O. P. Oommen,* Chemical Communications, 2016, 52, 966-969
Chondroitin Sulfate-Coated DNA-Nanoplexes Enhance Transfection Efficiency by Controlling Plasmid Release from Endosomes: A New Insight into Modulating Nonviral Gene Transfection, H. Yan, O. P. Oommen, D. Yu, J. Hilborn, H. Qian, O. P. Varghese, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2015, 25, 3907–3915.
Smart design of stable extracellular matrix mimetic hydrogel: synthesis, characterization, in vitro and in vivo evaluation for tissue engineering, O. P. Oommen, S. Wang, M. Kisiel, M. Sloff, J. Hilborn and O. P. Varghese Adv. Funct. Mater., 2013, 23, 1273–1280.
Microencapsulation of cells, including islets, within stable ultra-thin membranes of maleimide-conjugated PEG-lipid with multifunctional crosslinkers, Y. Teramura, O. P. Oommen, J. Olerud, J. Hilborn, B Nilsson, Biomaterials, 2013, 34, 2683-2693.