Graduation Date
Spring 5-9-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Programs
Cancer Research
First Advisor
Jingwei Xie
Abstract
Trauma, chronic tissue damage, and late-stage cancer diagnosis remain major clinical challenges, largely due to the absence of biomaterials that can simultaneously provide mechanical adaptability, biological compatibility, and minimally invasive deployment. Conventional approaches often rely on chemistry-driven functionality or rigid device architectures, which can limit performance across diverse biomedical contexts. This dissertation presents a unified materials platform based on hybrid fibrous aerogels, in which biological performance is governed primarily by architected fiber networks rather than reactive chemistry.
In the first part of this work, hybrid aerogels composed of entangled nanofibers and microfibers are developed as three-dimensional scaffolds for regenerative medicine. By integrating nanoscale fibers that mimic extracellular matrix morphology with mechanically supportive microfibers, the resulting aerogels exhibit high porosity, elasticity, and structural resilience. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate rapid host cell infiltration, robust neovascularization, and uniform extracellular matrix deposition, highlighting their suitability for soft tissue regeneration and wound healing. The second part of the dissertation extends this materials platform to acute trauma care, where rapid hemorrhage control is critical for survival. Injectable, shape-recoverable hybrid aerogels are engineered to expand upon contact with blood, exerting mechanical tamponade while promoting physiological clot formation. In lethal junctional hemorrhage swine models, these aerogels achieve faster hemostasis, reduced blood loss, and improved survival compared to clinically used hemostatic materials. Mechanical testing and fluid dynamic analyses reveal that their performance arises from a combination of high elastic energy storage, open porous architecture, and efficient blood absorption. In the final part, the hybrid fibrous architecture is adapted for minimally invasive cancer diagnostics through the development of swallowable, string-retrievable fibrous capsules for nonendoscopic esophageal cell collection. These devices safely deploy and recover in large animal models, enabling efficient capture of epithelial cells, including diagnostically relevant basal populations, without sedation or endoscopy.
Collectively, this dissertation establishes hybrid fibrous aerogels as a versatile, architecture-driven biomaterials platform that spans regenerative, therapeutic, and diagnostic applications. The findings underscore the power of structural design in enabling multifunctional biomedical devices and provide a foundation for translational technologies addressing unmet clinical needs.
Rights
The author holds the copyright to this work and any reuse or permissions must be obtained from the author directly.
Recommended Citation
Shahriar, S M Shatil, "Hybrid Fibrous Aerogels for Regenerative Medicine, Hemostasis, and Minimally Invasive Cancer Diagnosis" (2026). Theses & Dissertations. 1042.
https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/etd/1042