Biomaterials for Protein Delivery and Tissue Engineering
Harnessing natural affinity interactions for precise protein delivery
Welcome to the Hettiaratchi Lab
The Hettiaratchi Lab is a new bioengineering research group in the University of Oregon’s Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.
We are actively recruiting enthusiastic scientists and engineers to join our team!
Our Approach
We combine expertise in chemical and biomedical engineering to design biomaterials to control protein delivery to injured tissues.
Directed Evolution for Protein Delivery
Cell-Instructive Biomaterials for Bone Repair
Predictive Bio-transport Modeling
Featured Publications
- MH Hettiaratchi, L Krishnan, T Rouse, C Chou, TC McDevitt, RE Guldberg (2020). Heparin-mediated delivery of bone morphogenetic protein-2 improves spatial localization of bone formation. Science Advances.
- MH Hettiaratchi, T Miller, JS Temenoff, RE Guldberg, TC McDevitt (2014). Heparin microparticle effects on presentation and bioactivity of bone morphogenetic protein-2. Biomaterials.
- MH Hettiaratchi, MJ O'Meara, CJ Teal, SL Payne, AJ Pickering, MS Shoichet (2019). Local delivery of stabilized chondroitinase abc degrades chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in stroke-injured rat brains. Journal of Controlled Release.
September 2020
September was a busy month for the Hettiaratchi lab! We welcome graduate student Jonathan Dorogin, rotating graduate student John O’Hara-Smith, and undergraduate student Henry Hochstatter. We also moved into the new Knight Campus building!
July 2020
We welcome postdoctoral scholar Dr. Jakob Townsend to the lab.
Congratulations to Ireland Johnson and her mentor Annie Gilbert for winning the Peter O’Day Fellowship in Biological Sciences! Ireland’s project will focus on improving the versatility of demineralized bone matrix as a treatment for bone injury.
June 2020
The Hettiaratchi Lab receives a grant from the Collins Medical Trust to develop a biomaterial strategy to improve protein delivery to large bone fractures.
March 2020
We welcome rotation student, Dillon Willis, from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and undergraduates, Branden Henry, Hons Rajabzadeh, and Ireland Johnson to the lab!
January 2020
The lab officially opens its doors!
The Hettiaratchi Lab receives a UO-OHSU Collaborative Seed Grant to develop vascularized and innervated bone grafts with Dr. Luiz Bertassoni. We’re looking forward to starting this collaboration!
Our new paper on heparin-based biomaterials for protein delivery to repair large bone defects in rats is out in Science Advances. Check out the story in Around the O!