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Koyal Garg, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Education

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S. Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.E. in Biomedical Instrumentation Engineering, Avinashilingam Deemed University, Coimbatore, India

Research Interests

Garg’s research interests include cell and tissue engineering, extracellular matrix based biomaterials, stem cells, immune response, skeletal muscle and neuromuscular junctions. Aged or severely injured skeletal muscle is associated with reduced regenerative capacity and force production. Contributing factors include loss of functional contractile tissue and neuromuscular junctions, heightened inflammation, excessive collagen deposition and dysfunctional stem cells. The primary motive of Garg’s research is to develop biomaterial and stem cell based therapies for improving the regenerative and functional capacity of skeletal muscle following injury, disease or aging.

Labs and Facilities

Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Laboratory: The focus of our lab is the development and evaluation of biomaterial and stem cell based therapies for the enhancement of skeletal muscle regeneration and function following injuries, disease and aging. Laminin is an essential component of the muscle extracellular matrix and is an excellent substrate for the growth and differentiation of satellite cells (muscle resident stem cells) and motor neurons. By utilizing laminin based biomaterials, we hope to engineer functional skeletal muscle in vitro, which when implanted allows for full recovery of skeletal muscle structure and function in vivo. Our lab is equipped for cell culture and evaluation of cell-biomaterial interactions. Learn more online at www.gargklab.com.

Publications and Media Placements

Peer Reviewed Journal Publications
Walters TJ, Garg K, Corona BT (2015), Activity Attenuates Skeletal Muscle Fiber Damage after Ischemia- Reperfusion Injury, Muscle and Nerve, Muscle and Nerve, 52 (4), 640-648.

Garg K, Corona BT, Walters TJ (2015), Therapeutic strategies for preventing skeletal muscle fibrosis after injury, Frontiers in Pharmacology, 6 (87).

Garg K, Ward CL, Corona BT (2015), Asynchronous Inflammation and Myogenic Cell Migration Limit Muscle Tissue Regeneration Mediated by Acelluar Scaffolds, Inflammation and Cell Signaling, 1 (6): 530.

Garg K, Ward CL, Hurtgen BJ, Wilken JM, Stinner DJ, Owens J, Wenke JC, Corona BT (2015), Volumetric Muscle Loss: Persistent Functional Deficits Beyond Frank Loss of Tissue, Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 33 (1): 40-46.

Aurora A, Garg K, Corona BT, Walters TJ (2014), Physical Rehabilitation Improves Skeletal Muscle Function following Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury in Rats, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 6(1): 41.

Garg K, Corona BT, Walters TJ (2014), Effect of Losartan Treatment on Muscle Fibrosis and Regeneration after Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury, Journal of Applied Physiology, 117 (10): 1120-31.

Garg K, Ward CL, Rathbone CR, Corona BT (2014), Transplantation of Minced Devitalized Muscle Scaffolds is Insufficient for De Novo Muscle Fiber Regeneration after Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury, Cell and Tissue Research, 358 (3): 857-873.

Corona BT, Garg K, Roe JL, Zhu H, Park KH, Ma J, Walters TJ (2014), The Effect of Recombinant Human MG53 Protein on Tourniquet-Induced Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Rat Muscle, Muscle & Nerve, 49 (6): 919-921.

Corona BT, Garg K, Ward CL, McDaniel JS, Walters TJ, Rathbone CR (2013), Autologous Minced Muscle Grafts: A Tissue Engineering Therapy for the Volumetric Loss of Skeletal Muscle, American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, 305 (7): C761-C775.

Garg K, Pullen NA, Oskeritzian CA, Ryan JJ, Bowlin GL (2013), Macrophage Functional Polarization in Response to Varying Fiber Dimensions of Electrospun Scaffolds, Biomaterials, 34 (18): 4439-4451.

McClure MJ, Garg K, Simpson DJ, Ryan JJ, Sell SA, Bowlin GL, Ericksen J (2013), The Influence of Platelet Rich Plasma on Myogenic Differentiation, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, doi: 10.1002/term.1755.

Madurantakam P, Rodriguez IA, Garg K, McCool JM, Moon PC, Bowlin GL (2012), Compression of Multilayered Composite Electrospun Scaffolds: A Novel Strategy to Rapidly Enhance Mechanical Properties and Three Dimensionality of Bone Scaffolds, Advances in Material Science and Engineering, 561273.

Sell SA, Wolfe PS, Spence AJ, Rodriguez IA, McCool JM, Petrella RL, Garg K, Ericksen JJ, Bowlin GL (2012), A Preliminary Study on The Potential of Manuka Honey and Platelet-Rich Plasma in Wound Healing, International Journal of Biomaterials, 313781.

Garg K, Bowlin GL (2011), Electrospinning Jets and Nanofibrous Structures, Biomicrofluidics, 5(1): 013403. Garg K, Ryan JJ, Bowlin GL (2011), Modulation of Mast Cell Adhesion, Proliferation and Cytokine Secretion on Electrospun Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A. 97(4):405-13.

Sell SA, Wolfe PS, Garg K, McCool JM, Rodriguez IA, Bowlin GL (2010), The Use of Natural Polymers in Tissue Engineering: A Focus on Electrospun Extracellular Matrix Analogues, Polymers, 2 (4): 522-553.

Garg K, Bowlin GL (2010), Creation of Bioresorbable Vascular Prosthetics Using Electrospinning, ACS Polymer Preprints, 51(2): 90.

Garg K, Sell SA, Madurantakam P, Bowlin GL (2009), Angiogenic Potential of Human Macrophages on Electrospun Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts, Biomedical Materials, 4(3): 031001.

Wolfe PS, Madurantakam P, Garg K, Sell SA, Beckman MJ, Bowlin GL (2009), Evaluation of Thrombogenic Potential of Electrospun Bioresorbable Vascular Graft Materials: Acute Monocyte Tissue Factor Expression, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A., 92(4):1321-8.

Sell SA, McClure MJ, Garg K, Wolfe PS, Bowlin GL (2009), Electrospinning of Collagen / Biopolymers for Regenerative Medicine and Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 61(12):1007-19.

Sell SA, Francis MP, Garg K, McClure MJ, Simpson DG, Bowlin GL (2008), Cross-Linking Methods of Electrospun Fibrinogen Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications, Biomedical Materials, 3 (4):045001.

Book Chapter Contributions
McClure MJ, Garg K, RodrigueIA, McCool JM, Bowlin GL (2011), ECM Analogues Obtained by Electrospun Nanofibers, In Electrospinning for Advanced Biomedical Applications and Therapies, iSmithers Rapra Publishing.

Garg K, Sell SA and Bowlin GL (2009), Electrospinning and its Influence on the Structure of Polymeric Nanofibers, In Handbook of Textile Fibre Structure. Woodhead Publishing in Textiles: Number 88 

Conference Presentations
Eichhorn, S.; Hearle, J.W.S.; Jaffe, M. and T. Kikutani, Eds. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK, 958-981. Conference Presentations

Garg K, Dvoretskiy S, Mahmassani Z, Burkin D, Boppart M (2015), Laminin-111Supplementation Suppresses Inflammation and Fibrosis in Response to Mechanical Overload in Aged Skeletal Muscle, Poster Presented at the 4th Annual Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation, Rochester, MN.

Garg K, Ward CL, Hurtgen BJ, Wilken JM, Stinner DJ, Owens J, Wenke JC, Corona BT (2014), Volumetric Muscle Loss: Persistent Functional Deficits Beyond Frank Loss of Tissue, Poster Presentation, Orthopaedic Research Society 60th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.

Garg K, Pullen NA, Ryan JJ, Bowlin GL (2012), Macrophage Polarization in Response to Varying Fiber Dimensions of Electrospun Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts, Oral Presentation, 9th World Biomaterials Congress (WBC), Chengdu, China.

Garg K, Pullen NA, Ryan JJ, Bowlin GL (2012), The impact of varying properties of electrospun scaffolds on the phenotype of bone marrow derived murine macrophages, Poster presented at 16th Annual Hilton Head Workshop, Hilton Head Island, SC.

Garg K, Bowlin GL (2010), Nonwoven Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts, 4th International Conference on Technical Textiles and Nonwovens, New Delhi, India.

Garg K, Ryan JJ, Bowlin GL (2010), Modulation of Mast Cell Adhesion, Proliferation and Cytokine Secretion on Electrospun Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts, Poster presented at International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology’s (ISACB) 12th Biennial Meeting, Boston, MA.

Garg K, Francis MP, Sell SA, Moghaddam YM, Madurantakam P, Bowlin GL (2008), Angiogenic Potential of Human Macrophages on Electrospun Scaffolds, Poster presented at 12th Annual Hilton Head Workshop, SC.

Garg K, Sell SA, Smith DC, Madurantakam P, Bowlin GL (2008), Evaluation of Angiogenic Activity in Human Macrophages on Electrospun Vascular Grafts, Poster presented at The Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), San Diego, CA.

Community Work and Service

Koyal Garg, Ph.D., became an assistant professor in biomedical engineering at Parks College in February 2016. The primary motive of her research is to develop novel regenerative therapies for injury, aging or disease associated alterations in biological functions of tissues/organs. During her doctoral tenure, her research focused on testing the relationship between the structural properties of vascular grafts and a favorable macrophage phenotype response. Garg’s interest in regenerative medicine was further reinforced during her post-doctoral tenure at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, where she worked on the pre-clinical development and testing of biomaterial and pharmaceutical interventions for improving skeletal muscle regeneration and force production after traumatic volumetric muscle loss injuries. She continued her research work as a post-doctoral scholar at the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she developed and tested electrical stimulation, laminin and stem cell based regenerative therapies for the protection of skeletal muscle mass and function from injury and aging.