EPSRC grants £5.4m to University of Nottingham for biomaterials research
Advanced materials are essential components in targeting infectious diseases and cancers
A new £5.4m grant for research aimed at accelerating the discovery and application of new advanced materials in healthcare has been announced by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The grant, awarded to Professor Morgan Alexander at the University of Nottingham, will support the Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery programme.
Professor Alexander will head a multidisciplinary team spanning engineering, science and medical faculties at Nottingham that will collaborate with leading international groups to realise the vision of materials discovery in 3-D. The University of Nottingham is also making a £1.1m contribution to the research.
We aim to move beyond the existing limited range of generic bioresorbable polymeric drug and cell delivery agents to bespoke materials
'Advanced biomaterials are essential components in targeting infectious diseases and cancers, realising the potential of regenerative medicine and the medical devices of the future,' said Professor 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 control the response of cells to them. The programme 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 targeted drug delivery, regenerative medicine and advanced materials for 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, which could have application in antimicrobial resistance.
