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Fascinating work. I'm surprised that there aren't more questions.

Can you share the latest in the process of restoring nerve damage or encouraging nerves to grow to a tissue or implanted material?

What about encouraging growth of collagen producing cells that decline as we age? Also, encouraging satellite cell division and promotion of apoptosis in cells that are not functioning normally.

Very interesting! Are you familiar with the work of Dr.Neri Oxman, formerly of MIT?

Hi Nazia, this sounds really interesting. What fabrication methods are you using to create these materials?

What do you think we can do to make the implant process affordable and accessible to all?

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It seems you don't like the answer, but the answer is pretty explicit.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Hello, Nazia, and thank you for joining!

Question for you: With all the fringe group hubub surrounding "micro chipping" in COVID vaccines and such, has your research received any scrutiny, harassment, disapproval from those who worry about "surveillance" and the likes? Don't support their stance at all, but curious if the whole idea of putting new technology into the human body has received significant push back, especially from online groups, in the last, say, five years or so.

Hello. I'm not sure! I have never worked with magnetic materials but know that magnets have been used medically (externally) for example to control small robots that deliver drugs into the back of your eye. The brain and recreating electrical signals is very far from my research field I'm afraid!

There was some medically inadvisable biohackery going on with magnet capsules implanted into fingertips I remember from a while back. Thereafter reporting being able to feel electrical fields as they move/vibrate. A similar sort of neuroplasticity being the compass belt that pops up every so often. Is it possible to make a medically safe magnetic materials that could produce similar effects with enough responsivity where the brain can pick up and adapt to the stimuli?

Hello! I am not a clinical trial expert (though I often lean on wonderful colleagues who are!) but if we got to that stage with our materials (after rigorous tests in a laboratory environment) the clinical trials would test for both safety and efficacy. The design of what representative population group to test on would be the job of the trial design expert. It would also depend on whether we have designed a material that targets a specific disease or whether it's designed to repair injuries (blunt force trauma).

I would also add that different countries have slightly different pathways to design clinical trials. So what's FDA approved may not necessarily be EMA approved (European equivalent).

Hi! I'm curious how this would end up going through clinical trials? Would it go through the same path of healthy then injured or would it go straight into injured?

Hello! Some of the materials we create are designed to last (for example some I'm designing to create robot parts for humans) while others are designed to attract the cells and degrade as the cells take over (giving them the initial nourishment and room to grow and take over the space).

How does the lifespan of these materials measure up to organic materials of the same use already existent in the body?

It was an accidental journey. I did my first degree in forensic science and came across a project that was trying to recreate the fingerprint ridges. I thought that was interesting and as I started to explore I realised you could create more than fingerprints. I started using materials that are readily available and then eventually landed on making my own.

Thank you! Where did you interest in this start?

Hi! Absolutely! Our vision is to one day be able to grow new tissues and maybe even organs one day for patients, using these materials and the patient's own cells. That would certainly reduce organ transplant lists....

Hi! Tissues in the body are composed of many different types of proteins. One of the designs I am currently working on replicates some of the ways nature puts these proteins together. By copying nature's 'design rules' we've been able to create our own novel materials. So the short answer to this long explanation is they are protein based (though not all of my designs are. It entirely depends on what we're trying to do).

An excellent question regarding the immune response. Part of this is trying to match what our body can already tolerate though this is difficult! My materials have shown low immune response so far though we are trying to probe that further currently and see if we can modify our materials to 'calm down' an inflammatory response too.

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Hi! Could these smart materials have any impact on organ transplants? It seems like it could be a helpful way to prevent the body rejecting the new organ if you're able to mimic the chemistry of the body

Hi Nazia, your research sounds very interesting. What kind of "smart" materials are you currently using? How can you avoid triggering an immune response once these materials come in contact with the body?

As Head of Digital marketing, what did your day look like?

Hello! My materials are not currently being used in patients. It takes years to develop and refine the designs so they are suitable for implantation. This is then followed by strict regulatory tests and approvals before we go anywhere near a patient. All new healthcare technologies and drugs that are developed have to go through this process. My designs are still 'early stage' though I have been doing significant tests on them.

Regarding the second part of your question: cells decide how they will respond to materials by detecting physical and chemical changes around them. I study what would normally be present in healthy tissue and try to replicate these in my materials.

Pretend you're a digital marketing head at Meta or any company. You're tasked to hire 1 jr. digital marketing consultant/executive.

1. You've one guy that's B-tech dropout, but used his remaining 2-3 years learning Content marketing, Copywriting, Marketing Funnels. He's got few clients from Upwork. So he has basically something to show for his proof of work.

2. A proper marketing student. This guy passed every exam with top grades. He got his MBA too. And while studying, he attended 'workshops' or 'internships' with companies in touch with his college.

(Let's assume both are well behaved and likeable in the interview. Both are easy to work with and coachable.)

Who would you hire from these 1 & 2 based on their previous experience?