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Welcome to the Team - Anne Géraldine Guex Lab!
Prof. Dr. Anne Géraldine Guex is a Nanoscientist by training and was appointed assistant professor in Oral Implantology in April 2023. Her lab is based at the University Center for Dental Medicine Basel, UZB, in Kleinbasel where she is interested in gaining knowledge on the cell-molecular level to understand clinical observations in oral implantology. Specifically, the aim is to develop predictive in vitro model systems (by combining biomaterials, three-dimensional scaffolds and different cell types) that will shine light on specific mechanisms such as peri-implantitis, cellular reactions to dental implants, or bone remodelling. Together with her team, she is interested in understanding cell material interactions and controlling cell fate decision by material properties on the architectural, chemical, and mechanical level.
The Oral Implantology lab mainly follows two lines of research: In a tissue engineering-based approach, Géraldine Guex and her team develop three dimensional scaffolds by electrospinning to provide a suitable environment for progenitor or stromal cells to undergo osteogenesis. The aim is to address both architectural as well as biochemical properties of these fibres to synergistically steer differentiation. In close collaboration with dentists at UZB, human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC) are isolated from extracted teeth, characterised, and ultimately cultured on the developed scaffolds. As a long-term goal, Géraldine Guex aims to leverage the regenerative potential of hDPSC to replace diseased or lost bone tissue in the oral cavity.
In a second line of research, the Oral Implantology lab investigates the response of soft tissue (gingiva) or hard tissue (bone) to dental implant materials. In a most recently started project, the correlation between macrophage response to architecturally and chemically distinct dental implant materials, and subsequent bone remodelling is addressed in in vitro models. In other ongoing projects, the group looks at adhesion, proliferation or differentiation, respectively, of fibroblasts, epithelial cells, or osteogenic progenitors on dental materials with distinct surface functionalisation.
At the UZB and as an associated group at the DBM, Géraldine Guex conducts translational research to bring solutions from the lab to the clinic and aims to improve patient’s satisfaction by providing long-term solutions in oral implantology.