A new £5.4 million grant for research aimed at accelerating the discovery and application of new advanced materials in healthcare has been announced by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The grant, awarded to Professor Morgan Alexander at the University of Nottingham, will support a program entitled ‘Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery’. Alexander will head a multidisciplinary team spanning the Engineering, Science and Medical faculties at Nottingham, which will collaborate with leading international groups to develop novel biomaterials for healthcare applications. The University of Nottingham has also committed to provide a further £1.1 million for the research.
"Advanced biomaterials are essential components in targeting infectious diseases and cancers, realizing the potential of regenerative medicine and the medical devices of the future.”Morgan Alexander, University of Nottingham
"Advanced biomaterials are essential components in targeting infectious diseases and cancers, realizing the potential of regenerative medicine and the medical devices of the future,” said Alexander. "We aim to move beyond the existing limited range of generic bioresorbable polymeric drug and cell delivery agents to bespoke materials identified to function for specific applications."
Defining the chemistry, stiffness, topography and shape of materials can influence how cells respond to them. The program at Nottingham will focus on producing and testing large libraries of these attributes in the form of patterned surfaces, particles and more complex architectures. New materials will be identified for application in the areas of targeted drug delivery, regenerative medicine and advanced materials for next generation medical devices.
The team will also investigate and develop materials that can work around the abilities of bacteria and microbes to sense and signal to each other. This could have application in the field of antimicrobial resistance.
"From regenerative medicine through to the next generation of cutting-edge medical devices, biomaterials will be essential components of 21st century healthcare,” commented George Freeman, Minister for Life Sciences in the UK government. “This £5.4 million government investment will help researchers at the University of Nottingham to develop ground-breaking new techniques that will speed up the discovery and application of these increasingly important materials."
"The development of new advanced materials is vital to extending our capabilities across a wide range of scientific disciplines,” said Philip Nelson, EPSRC's Chief Executive. “The work planned as part of this program grant promises to find new materials that will have many applications in the healthcare sector. This grant will support some of the UK's talented scientists and help achieve EPSRC's vision to make the UK the best place in the world to research, discover and innovate."
This story is adapted from material from the EPSRC, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source.