Dr. Lynda Velutheril Thomas

Academic Qualifications

• PhD - 2012, "A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF NANOFIBRILLAR STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL STIMULATION FOR THE GENERATION OF A TISSUEvENGINEERED VASCULAR CONSTRUCT"Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Trivandrum, India.
• Post Graduation - M.Tech (Polymer Technology) 2005Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University forScience and Technology, CUSAT, Kerala, INDIA.
• Post Graduation - M.Sc (Polymer Chemistry) 2003. M.G University, INDIA
• Graduation- B.Sc Industrial Chemistry, 2001. University of Kerala, India

Professional Record

• Sr Scientist (Research and Development) in AXIO BIOSOLUTIONS Pvt. Ltd. (July 2015-Jan 2016) - an ISO 13485 approved start up industry.
• Post Doc- 2013, "Development of layered scaffold structures' for vascular Tissue Engineering" Biofunctional Materials-West Lab, Biomedical Engineering Department, Duke University- 27710, Durham, NC, USA. Mentor- Prof Jennifer West
• Research Associate -2012 , Indo-Danish Project on Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering at the Division of Tissue Engineering and Regeneration Technologies, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum,Kerala, INDIA.
• Project Scientist/Engineer-B - 2011, DBT Project at the Division of Tissue Engineering and Regeneration Technologies, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum,Kerala, INDIA.

Awards

• 2014 - BME Innovation and Career Development Award, BMES, USA.
• 2013- Fulbright Nehru Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award
• 2011- Young Scientist award at the 23rd Kerala Science Congress, Government of India
• 2008-2010 - Senior Research Fellowship, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.
• 2007- ISSCR Student Travel Award for best paper at 5th ISSCR Annual Meeting, Cairns, Australia
• 2007- Best poster presentation award at INDO-US Workshop on Cardiovascular Prosthetic Devices: In vitro Studies to clinical Implantation, SCTIMST, Thiruvananthapuram, India
• 2005 - Award for best paper at 12th Annual Conference of the Vascular Society Of India, VSICON 2005, Thiruvananthapuram
• 2005 - 2nd rank, M.Tech Polymer Technology. Cochin University for Science and Technology, CUSAT, Cochin, Kerala, INDIA.
• 2003 - 2nd rank, M.Sc Polymer Chemistry, M.G University, Kerala, INDIA.

Area of Interest

• Synthesis and fabrication of novel biomaterials for wound healing applications and their characterization, Bioprinting of tissue engineered constructs, Electrospinning and freeze drying of polymers, Development of polymeric scaffolds for Tissue engineering of vascular grafts, cartilage etc, Bioreactor culture, Effect of mechanical forces on improving the quality of tissue engineered construct, Influence of biomaterial composition/ surface properties/ pore size & morphology on cell response during in vitro tissue development, effect of culture conditions in in vitro tissue development. Development of microfluidic paper based biosensing platforms.

Current Activities

• Development of Advanced wound healing dressings for chronic wound applications
• Development of an injectable gel system for cartilage repair and for repair of growth plate defects
• Development of scaffold constructs for tissue engineering using the technology of bioprinting.
• Development of microfluidic paper based biosensing devices.

Patents

• Indian Patent Application No 201741001964. 'An application system for two component injectable gel mixture with a homogenous mixing unit for various applications.'
• Indian Patent Application No 201741047245. PCT Application Number PCT-18834068.1. 'Lint free crosslinked Chitosan-PVA sponge as an absorbent wound dressing and method of preparation thereof.'
• Indian Patent Application No 201841000162. 'Gelatin Copolymer with vinyl monomers and its blend with synthetic polymers as scaffold for cell growth.'
• Indian Patent Application No 201841018045. 'A microfluidic paper based analytical device with a laminated base and the process of fabrication.'

Fellowships

• 2013- Fulbright Nehru Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award
• 2008-2010 - Senior Research Fellowship, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.

Membership

• Life Member of Society for Polymer Science, India (SPSI).
• Member, American Heart Association.
• Member, Biomedical Medical Engineering Society.
• Life Member, Society for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (INDIA)

On-going Projects

• Principal Project Investigator in a TRC project (8145) entitled 'Lint free absorbent dressing for surgical and highly exudating chronic wounds'
• Co-Project Investigator in a TRC project (8140) entitled 'An injectable hydrogel for repair of cartilage injury and growth plate defects'
• Co-Investigator in a TRC project (8141) entitled '3D Printing of Liver Tissue Constructs for In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Testing'

Team

• Ms. Jijo Wilson, PhD student
• Ms. Kirthana Mohan, PhD Student
• Ms. Asha Nath, PhD Student

Publications

Article

1. VG, Rahul, Jijo Wilson, Lynda V. Thomas, and Prabha D. Nair., Assessing the 3D Printability of an Elastomeric Poly (caprolactone-co-lactide) Copolymer as a Potential Material for 3D Printing Tracheal Scaffolds., ACS omega, 2022, 7, no. 8 (2022): 7002-7011.
2. Unnikrishnan, K., Thomas, L.V. and Ram Kumar, R.M., Advancement of Scaffold-Based 3D Cellular Models in Cancer Tissue Engineering: An Update., Frontiers in Oncology, 2021,
3. Mukherjee, S., Agarwal, M., Bakshi, A., Sawant, S., Thomas, L.V, Fujii, N., Nair, P. and Kode, J, Chemokine SDF1 mediated bone regeneration using biodegradable Poly (D, L-lactide-coglycolide) 3D scaffolds and bone marrowderived mesenchymal stem cells: implication for the development of an “Off-the-Shelf” pharmacologically active construct., Biomacromolecules, 2020, 21(12), pp.4888-4903
4. S. Shyna, P.D Nair, L.V Thomas, A non adherent chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol absorbent wound dressing prepared via controlled freeze-dry technology, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020, 150, 129-140
5. P. Sreenivasan, J Wilson, P.D Nair, L.V Thomas, Polycaprolactone solution based ink for designing microfluidic channels on paper via 3D printing platform for biosensing application, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 2020, 31( 5) ; 1139-1149
6. Shaji, S., & Thomas, L. V*, A chitosan-gelatin hemostatic wound dressing-in-vitro functional evaluation studies in comparison with a commercially available hemostatic dressing, AIP Conference Proceedings, 2020, 2263 (1), 030001
7. 4. Thomas L.V and Nair P.D, An electrospun citric acid modified polyvinyl alcohol scaffold for vascular tissue engineering., Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers., 2019, 34(3): 263-279
8. Lynda Velutheril Thomas, Rahul V.G, Prabha D Nair, Effect of stiffness of chitosan-hyaluronic acid dialdehyde hydrogels on the viability and growth of encapsulated chondrocytes., International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2017, pii: S0141-8130(16)32707-, doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.05.116
9. Nandkumar M.A., Ashna U., Thomas L.V, Nair P.D., Pulmonary surfactant expression analysis?Role of cell?cell interactions and 3-D tissue-like architecture., Cell Biol Int., 2015, 39(3):272-82., doi: 10.1002/cbin.10389.
10. Thomas, L.V. and Nair, P.D., The effect of pulsatile loading and scaffold structure for the generation of a medial equivalent tissue engineered vascular graft., BioResearch open access, 2013, 2 (3), 227-239
11. Thomas, L.V. and Nair, P.D., Tissue engineered Vascular Grafts - Preclinical aspects., International Journal of Cardiology, 2013, 167(4), 1091-1100
12. Thomas, L.V. and Nair, P.D., Influence of Mechanical Stimulation in the Development of a Medial Equivalent Tissue-Engineered Vascular Construct using a Gelatin-g-Vinyl Acetate Co-Polymer Scaffold, Journal of Biomaterial Science Polymer Edition, 2012, 23 (16), 2069-2087
13. Mukundan, L.M. Nirmal, R. Thomas,L.V. Sajeev, U.S. and Nair P.D., Retreival of rat aortic smooth muscle cells as intact cell sheet for regenerative medicine: a cost effective approach using photo polymerization., Biotechnology Letters, 2011, 33(10), 2083-2089
14. Thomas, L.V. and Nair, P.D, (Citric acid-co-polycaprolactone triol) Polyester - a biodegradable elastomer for Soft tissue engineering., Biomatter, 2011, 1(1),81-90
15. Thomas, L.V, Arun, U. Remya, S. and Nair, P.D., A biodegradable and biocompatible PVA???citric acid polyester with potential applications as matrix for vascular tissue engineering, Journal of Material Science: Materials in Medicine, 2009, 20(1), 259-69

Book Chapter

1. Ashna Gauthaman, Anand Krishnan, MS Anju, Lynda V Thomas, Naresh Kasoju, Anugya Bhatt, Three-dimensional bioprinting of skin tissue equivalents using natural polymers as bioinks for potential applications in wound repair, Natural Polymers in Wound Healing and Repair , p 187-206, 2022,
2. Thomas, L.V., Evaluation of polymeric biomaterials used as wound care products., Biomedical Product and Materials Evaluation, pp. 63-94. Elsevier, Woodhead Publishing, 2022., 2022,
3. Thomas, L.V., Polymeric Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering: Retrospect and Prospects, Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (pp. 89-118). Springer, Singapore., 2021,
4. Thomas, L.V. and Sreenivasan, Microfluidic Platforms for Wound Healing Analysis., Advanced Microfluidics-Based Point-of-Care Diagnostics (pp. 319-338). CRC Press., 2021,