# Poly(glycerol carbonate) pressure sensitive adhesives for the in vivo closure of alveolar pleural fistulae

> **NIH NIH F31** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2022 · $46,752

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 This fellowship will support the interdisciplinary research and training of Ms. Danielle Fitzgerald under the
co-sponsorship of Dr. Mark Grinstaff of Boston University and Dr. Yolonda Colson of the Massachusetts
General Hospital/Harvard Medical School’s. The training aspects of the proposal include four pillars:
interdisciplinary research, multi-disciplinary mentoring, academic engineer-scientist training, and
professional development. This personalized training plan provides a unique opportunity for learning in the
biomaterials area with critical clinical input, and specifically addresses her career goal of becoming a professor
at a top-tier university. Drs. Grinstaff and Colson will continue to meet regularly with the fellow as part of her
three-year plan and will provide the necessary resources (space, equipment, supplies, training, etc.) for her
success.
 On the research front, her proposal describes new biodegradable, biocompatible pressure sensitive
adhesives (PSAs), with tunable adhesion strength, for in vivo use. This innovative technology overcomes the
limitation of current PSAs, which are only used topically. Together with Drs. Colson and Grinstaff, the repair of
alveolar pleural fistulae was identified as a significant and problematic clinical procedure in thoracic surgery
associated with increases in health care costs and high mortality rates. Today, closure of such leaks is
challenging due to limited space and to an inherent pressure gradient across the fistula. Specifically, Ms.
Fitzgerald is evaluating novel poly(1,2-glycerol carbonate)s (PGCs) which functionally mimic conventional
polyacrylate PSAs but possess biodegradable carbonate linkages and degrade into benign products – e.g.,
glycerol, CO2. These first-of-their-kind polymers provide an opportunity to create a new class of PSAs and shift
the paradigm around our ability to control and manage intrathoracic wounds. The proposed experiments will
test the hypotheses that these PGC based pressure sensitive adhesives will: 1) exhibit compositionally
dependent adhesive strength which positively correlates with greater molecular weight, longer alkyl
chains, and stereoregularity; 2) display peel strengths which can be tuned over a wide range from
Post-it® note to Duct® Tape like performance; and, 3) enable securing a collagen buttress to a surgical
stapler or an electrospun polylactide mesh patch for sealing lung injuries. Her specific aims are: Aim 1.
Synthesize and characterize a series of PGC-based pressure sensitive adhesives; Aim 2. Evaluate the
compatibility of the PGC-adhesive collagen and PLA patch in vitro and in vivo; and, Aim 3. Evaluate the
performance of the PGC-adhesive collagen and PLA patch in porcine models. Importantly, preliminary data
support these hypotheses, and well-characterized materials and rigorous experimental designs are established
in this proposal with essential cross-disciplinary collaborations and expertise from Ms. Fitzgerald...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10463117
- **Project number:** 1F31HL163917-01
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Danielle Fitzgerald
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $46,752
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-16 → 2025-11-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10463117

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10463117, Poly(glycerol carbonate) pressure sensitive adhesives for the in vivo closure of alveolar pleural fistulae (1F31HL163917-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10463117. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*