Our lab recently received funding through two separate mechanisms (NIH Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence and the University of Nebraska Collaboration Initiative) to develop new chitosan-based nanofibrous polymeric materials with antibacterial properties. Together with the collaborators Dr. Yury Salkovskiy (UNO Department of Biomechanics) and Dr. Marat Sadykov (UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology), we will explore how chemical modifications of chitosan improve the antibacterial properties of resulting polymeric materials and their potential application for surgical implants.