C-UMB
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
The Medical University of Berlin - Charité is the largest university hospital in Europe. It extends over four campuses with more than 100 departments and institutes, which are bundled under 17 Charité Centres. The Charité has produced 10 Nobel Prize winners and is one of the leading life science institutions in Europe, closely intertwining research, clinical development and application.
Translational research in regenerative medicine is a key topic at the Charité. The Julius Wolff Institute for Biomechanics and Musculoskeletal Regeneration, that takes part in Interlynk, is one of the Charité’s research institutes dedicated to the study of the biological processes occurring during tissue healing and to the translation of the knowledge thereof into regenerative therapies.
Over 80 researchers with an engineering, biology or surgical background work in the Institute, in tight collaboration with the Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery and the Clinic for Maxillofacial Surgery, to improve patient care and stimulate innovations for implants in the area of bone, muscle and ligament reconstruction, as well as to develop advanced therapies to enhance and accelerate the regeneration of these tissues. Together, the Julius Wolff Institute, the Clinic for Maxillofacial Surgery, the Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery and the Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies have helped to realize a number of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and translated them into clinical daily routine.
Key Persons
Sara Checa
Sara Checa leads the Computational Mechanobiology group at the Julius Wolff Institute. She is Junior Professor in Biomechanics and Computer Modeling of Tissue Regeneration at the Charité and holds an invited position at the Technical University of Berlin. She is an expert in the development of computer models to investigate the interaction between mechanical signals and biological responses, in the context of bone adaptation and regeneration. She authored more than 40 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters.
Katharina Schmidt-Bleek
Katharina Schmidt-Bleek leads the Bone Healing research group at the Julius Wolff Institute for Biomechanics and Musculoskeletal Regeneration. Schmidt-Bleek has a PhD degree in Molecular Biology. She also completed her studies in veterinary medicine and holds a specialization in experimental animal work. She has strong expertise in various bone healing models in mice, rats, and sheep, as well as a profound knowledge of bone regeneration, in particular as regards the interactions between the bone and the immune system. She is the author of 31 research papers published in peer-review scientific journals
Carsten Rendenbach
Carsten Rendenbach is a senior physician at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Charité Berlin. His research activities are located at both the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Julius Wolff Institute in Berlin. He has experience in the field of bone biology, mineralization, biomaterials, fracture healing and biomechanics, in animal studies in mice, rabbits, minipigs and sheep, as well as in biomechanical in vitro studies of maxillofacial fixation systems. Rendenbach is the author of 23 papers published in peer-review international journals.
Benedicta Beck-Broichsitter
Benedicta Beck-Broichsitter is maxillofacial surgeon and professor in Computer-Assisted Reconstructive Facial Surgery at Charité Berlin. Beck-Broichsitter has significant experience in the field of tissue engineering, in particular in the study of growth factor influence on timing and concentration on engineered single bone constructs and joint components in different animal models, in the techniques to monitor cellular ingrowth after scaffold implantation in intramuscular tissue engineering and in the study of the physiological bone healing processes occurring in non-critical size defects of the mandible.
Mohit Chhaya
Mohit Chhaya is principal investigator at the Charité University and co-founder and CEO of BellaSeno GmbH. He has significant experience in Biomedical Engineering and Additive Manufacturing Technologies. He directed the development of BellaSeno’s preclinical, as well as clinical validation and regulatory strategies. In this role, Chhaya has successfully delivered several multi-partner industrial projects and successfully launched one of the first world’s CMO services focused on resorbable implants made by using Additive Manufacturing. Chhaya is the co-inventor of 6 patents. In recognition of his work, he was awarded several prestigious prizes, such as the Edison Award and the Young Achievement Australia entrepreneur award. Chhaya has also experience as a data analyst, as well as a broad knowledge of capital and derivatives markets.