GLOBAL - Promoting research partnerships in Advanced Materials for Healthcare

该项目将侧重于加强和进一步发展我校与中国高校领先研究人员的成功研究联系，以满足中英两国在医疗保健先进材料战略领域的一致需求，旨在医疗技术和药物输送，并在我们成功的科学桥梁中国项目的基础上继续发展。长期的总体目标是帮助满足英国和中国不断增长的医疗保健需求，这是2011年7月Willets部长和Wan部长确定的三个英中合作研究重点之一。该方案包括研究项目以及一系列网络和培训活动。这些研究项目都在医疗保健先进材料领域，分为3个相互关联的流程：流程1：微成型、微挤压和规模效应；流2：聚合物和聚合物纳米复合材料的固相取向；流程3：增强药物传递和生物利用度。我们的建议涉及通过精密加工控制选定的先进材料的结构，以实现增强，控制性能，用于医疗设备和技术。我们将探索聚合物和聚合物纳米复合材料及其混合物，以开发具有新型物理特性（导电性，强度，刚度或扩散行为）或新型产品（包括牙科治疗等医疗设备，眼科手术设备，可植入设备（包括关节镜固定和脊柱修复骨科植入物））的材料，药物输送系统（如微针阵列或药物洗脱支架）和诊断设备(微流体，光学系统)。我们还将探索药物，以提高药物给药方法和药物的生物利用度。更高的生物利用度意味着可以使用更少的药物来达到治疗患者的既定效果，这可以通过不同的途径实现，例如在片剂、贴片等加工过程中修改药物结构（例如共结晶）以提高药物在患者中的溶解度，或者通过使用超临界流体改变物理粒度和形态。网络和培训是真正的“人与人之间的桥梁”活动——在研究人员之间建立信任的联系，培养年轻的员工，引导团队相互合作，开辟新的机会，共同应对挑战。将利用各种机制促进人与人之间的联系和随后的合作项目和产出。其中包括进一步发展我们的英中最先进的研究网络，以我们目前广泛的科学桥梁中国网络为基础，我们与18所中国领先的大学和机构在医疗技术领域进行了研究合作。我们将继续积极邀请其他英国大学和公司参与与中国的网络活动和项目提案，以及中英医疗保健行业的公司。我们将于2012年4月在成都的一个研究研讨会上成立中英先进材料研究所（AMRI）。我们将与中国进行重要的研究人员交流，所有这些都将涉及研究培训，并举办多达4个主题的研究研讨会。我们将发展联合出版物、联合知识产权和联合学生研究指导，并鼓励组建联合研究实验室（类似布拉德福德大学最近与四川大学在聚合物微加工方面组建的联合实验室）。我们将继续在中国高知名度的“科学桥梁”基础上继续发展，包括与中国科技部和教育部的持续对话。

The programme will focus on the strengthening and further development of our university's successful research links with leading researchers in Chinese Universities meeting aligned needs of the UK and China in the strategic area of advanced materials for healthcare, aimed at medical technologies and drug delivery and building on our successful Science Bridges China programme. The overall purpose long term is to help meet the growing healthcare needs of the UK and China, which was identified as one of three UK-China collaborative research priorities by Ministers Willets and Wan in July 2011.The programme consists of Research projects, and a range of Network and Training activities. The RESEARCH projects, which are all in the area of Advanced Materials for Healthcare, are grouped into 3 inter-related Streams: Stream 1: Micromoulding & microextrusion & scale effects; Stream 2: Solid phase orientation of polymers & polymer nanocomposites; Stream 3: Enhanced drug delivery & bioavailabilty.Our proposal concerns controlling the structures of selected advanced materials through precision processing to achieve enhanced, controlled properties, for use in medical devices and technologies. We will explore polymers and polymer nanocomposites and their blends, to develop materials with novel physical properties (conductivity, strength, stiffness or diffusion behaviour) or novel products (including medical devices such as dental treatments, ophthalmic surgical devices, implantable devices (including arthroscopic fixations and orthopaedic implants for spinal repair)), drug delivery systems (e.g. microneedle arrays or drug eluting stents), and diagnostic devices (microfluidics, optical systems). We will also explore pharmaceuticals to enhance drug delivery methods, and drug bioavailability. Greater bioavailability means that less drug can be used to achieve a given effect in treating patients, which may be achieved by different routes such as amending the drug structure during processing of tablets, patches etc. (e.g. co-crystallisation) to enhance drug solubility in patients, or by physical particle size and form changes using supercritical fluids.NETWORKS & TRAINING are really 'People Bridges' activities - making trusting links between researchers, developing younger staff, leads to teams working for each other, opening up new opportunities and joint responses to challenges. Various mechanisms will be used to promote people bridges and subsequent collaborative projects and outputs. These include developing further our UK-China state of the art research Network, based on our extensive current Science Bridges China network, in which we have research collaborations with 18 leading Chinese universities and institutions, in the field of healthcare technologies. We will continue to proactively include other UK universities and companies in network events and project proposals with China, and healthcare sector companies in China and the UK. We will launch the UK-China Advanced Materials Research Institute (AMRI), in April 2012 at a Research Workshop in Chengdu. We will enable significant Researcher Exchanges with China, all of which will involve Research Training, and hold up to 4 Research Workshops in our theme. We will develop joint publications, joint IP and joint research student supervision, and encourage the formation of joint research laboratories (similar to the one Bradford recently formed with Sichuan University, in Polymer Micro Processing). We will continue to build on the very high visibility Science Bridges China has in China, including ongoing dialogues with the Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry of Education.