Polyester Nano-Grafts on Hydroxyapatite: Promising Additives for Bone Cement
Formulations
Dr. Ivan Gitsov, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science
and Forestry
ABSTRACT
Bone and prosthesis fixation after traumatic injury and total hip replacement place specific requirements
for the materials employed in these procedures. Currently bone cements, composed of methacrylic
monomers, polymers and copolymers, are among the most widely used formulations. Upon mixing and
gentle heating they solidify in the fracture or in the void between the metal stem of the implant and the
thighbone. Common drawback of the existing bone cements is their failure to form long lasting or
permanent bond with the bone due mostly to the lack of sufficient bone ingrowth. This talk will present the
synthesis and evaluation of a line of bone cement additives, which might be able to circumvent the
mentioned shortcomings of the commercial mixtures without compromising their useful properties.
BIOGRAPHY
Ivan Gitsov holds a Masters degree in Organic Chemistry from University St Kliment Ohridsky in Sofia,
Bulgaria and PhD in Polymer Science from The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. After spending 11 years
at The R&D Institute for Special Chemicals in Bulgaria and Cornell University he joined SUNY ESF in
1997 as Associate Professor and became subsequently affiliated with The Michael M. Szwarc Polymer
Research Institute and The Syracuse Biomaterials Institute. His research activities are focused on the
design and synthesis of novel polymeric materials with promising biotechnological and biomedical
application potential. He is one of the Action Editors of Journal of Analytical and Bioanalytical Techniques
and was Guest Professor at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and The Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH – Zürich). His work has placed him in the top 5 % of the most cited authors for journals
in Chemistry and his other honors include Greve Foundation Fellowship and Cottrell Scholarship.