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Anita Saraf, Ph.D.

Medical School

Undergraduate Institution: Northwestern University

Year: Fourth-Year Medical Student

Graduate Program: Bioengineering (Rice University)

Mentor: Antonios G. Mikos, Ph.D.

Thesis Title: Regulated Release of A Novel Non-Viral Gene Delivery Vector from Electrospun Coaxial Fiber Mesh Scaffolds

Publications:

Chew SA, Hacker MC, Saraf A, Raphael RM, Kasper FK, Mikos AG. Altering amine basicities in biodegradable branched polycationic polymers for nonviral gene delivery. Biomacromolecules. 2010. 11(3):600-9.
Guo X, Liao J, Park H, Saraf A, Raphael RM, Tabata Y, Kasper FK, Mikos AG. Effects of TGF-beta3 and preculture period of osteogenic cells on the chondrogenic differentiation of rabbit marrow mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated in a bilayered hydrogel composite. Acta Biomater. 2010. 6(8):2920-31.
Martins AM, Saraf A, Rui A, Sousa F, Kasper FK, Alves CM, Reis RL, Mikos AG. Combination of enzymes and flow perfusion conditions improves osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells cultured upon starch/poly(-caprolactone) fiber meshes. Journal of Biomaterials Research: A (In press)
Saraf A, Baggett LS, Raphael RM, Kasper FK, Mikos AG. Regulated non-viral gene delivery from coaxial electrospun fiber mesh scaffolds. J Control Release. 2010. 143(1):95-103.
Chew SA, Hacker MC, Saraf A, Raphael RM, Kasper FK, Mikos AG. Biodegradable branched polycationic polymers with varying hydrophilic spacers for nonviral gene delivery. Biomacromolecules. 2009. 10(9):2436-45.
Saraf A, Lozier G, Haesslein A, Kasper FK, Raphael RM, Baggett LS, Mikos AG. Fabrication of nonwoven coaxial fiber meshes by electrospinning. Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2009. 15(3):333-344.
Saraf A, Hacker MC, Sitharaman B, Grande-Allen KJ, Barry MA, Mikos AG. Synthesis and conformational evaluation of a novel gene delivery vector for human mesenchymal stem cells. Biomacromolecules. 2008. 9(3):818-27.
Sitharaman B, Zakharian TY, Saraf A, Misra P, Ashcroft J, Pan S, Pham QP, Mikos AG, Wilson LJ, Engler DA. Water-soluble fullerene (C60) derivatives as nonviral gene-delivery vectors. Mol Pharm. 2008. 5(4):567-78.
Saraf A, Mikos AG. Gene delivery strategies for cartilage tissue engineering. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2006. 58(4):592-603.
Lu J, Caplan MS, Saraf AP, Li D, Adler L, Liu X, Jilling T. Platelet-activating factor-induced apoptosis is blocked by Bcl-2 in rat intestinal epithelial cells. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2004. 286(2):G340-50.