Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Building advanced materials to treat vision loss

增长工程奖学金：构建先进材料来治疗视力丧失

• 批准号: EP/M002209/1
• 负责人: Rachel Williams
• 金额: $ 159.39万
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2014 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FM002209%2F1
• 关键词: Engineering; Fellowships; Growth; Building; advanced

Innovations in biomaterials science and engineering have the potential to make a significant contribution to the development of treatments for ophthalmic diseases and thus to reduce the burden of vision loss on the global community. Underpinning these developments is the design and production of advanced materials with key features that drive the biological response required to overcome the destructive nature of the disease. To achieve these outcomes there is an urgent need for engineers, scientists and clinicians to combine their knowledge and expertise to address the eye healthcare problems of the 21st century especially with an ageing population. Four key areas will be developed within this Fellowship: 1) The design and development of novel materials for contact lenses using environmentally friendly manufacturing processes; overcoming problems associated with silicone-based hydrogels and permitting modification to incorporate bioactive molecules for wound healing and antimicrobial agent delivery combating corneal infection, 2) The design of advanced gels to replace damaged corneas; overcoming current problems associated with biological materials such as collagen or amniotic membrane with the potential for greater control, reduced immunogenicity and thus more rapid product translation to the clinic, 3) The development of functionalised surfaces for conjunctival cell transplantation using novel atmospheric pin plasmas for spatially resolved surface modification without requiring high vacuum manufacturing, 4) The development of controlled substrates for cell expansion using surfaces designed to model the extracellular environment promoting expansion under well-defined GMP conditions to allow a more rapid translation of these cells in therapeutic applications. This fellowship will allow me to use my expertise to develop advanced materials for ophthalmic applications and to co-ordinate the efforts of a number of academics into a major hub of activity and allow me to provide the expertise in the design of novel substrates to take forward advanced cell therapies for eye disease being developed by several groups both within the UK and internationally. Bringing together expertise in advanced materials with these groups will produce world leading research output with the potential for industrial exploitation and clinical translation capable of making a substantial impact on the UK economy and healthcare. This fellowship will allow me to exploit my leadership role within the University to build on the existing cross-faculty collaborations already established and through my mentoring roles to develop the next generation of academics to fulfil future leadership positions and ensure continuation of the strength of ophthalmic bioengineering at the University. It fits with the University's strategic priorities, and will enhance 'Materials for the Future' which is one of our 7 Institutional research themes. My existing collaborations with industry will provide a basis for further exploitation of new technologies into the commercial sector and my strong collaboration with clinicians at St Paul's Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, will allow me to reach out to the clinical ophthalmic community. I will exploit my existing international reputation to strengthen the position of Liverpool and the UK as a focus for leading world class research with impact in ophthalmic biomaterials and engineering. For an individual the loss of sight is estimated to have a financial impact of £20k pa. For the UK economy the annual cost is around £6.5 billion in terms of direct healthcare costs and indirect costs such as unpaid carers and loss of employment. Emotionally the loss of vision can be devastating to the individual. This established career fellowship will provide the platform from which to build a centre of excellence in ophthalmic bioengineering with the capability to make a substantial contribution to addressing these problems.

生物材料、科学和工程方面的创新有可能对眼科疾病治疗的发展作出重大贡献，从而减轻全球社会的视力丧失负担。这些发展的基础是设计和生产具有关键特征的先进材料，以驱动克服疾病破坏性所需的生物反应。为了实现这些结果，工程师、科学家和临床医生迫切需要结合他们的知识和专业知识来解决21世纪的眼睛保健问题，特别是在人口老龄化的情况下。这项研究将开发四个关键领域：1)使用环境友好的制造工艺设计和开发隐形眼镜的新材料；克服与硅基水凝胶相关的问题，并允许进行修改，以加入用于伤口愈合和抗菌剂输送的生物活性分子以对抗角膜感染；2)设计先进的凝胶以取代受损的角膜；3)克服目前与胶原或羊膜等生物材料相关的问题，这些材料可能具有更好的控制性、降低免疫原性，从而更快地将产品转移到临床；3)针对结膜细胞移植开发功能化表面，使用新型大气针状等离子体进行空间分辨的表面修饰，而无需高真空制造；4)开发用于细胞扩张的受控基质，使用旨在模拟细胞外环境的表面来促进在明确定义的GMP条件下的扩张，以使这些细胞在治疗应用中能够更快速地转化。这一奖学金将使我能够利用我的专业知识开发用于眼科应用的先进材料，并将一些学者的努力协调成一个主要的活动中心，并使我能够提供设计新型基质的专业知识，以推动英国和国际上几个小组正在开发的针对眼病的先进细胞疗法。将先进材料方面的专业知识与这些集团结合在一起，将产生世界领先的研究成果，具有工业开发和临床翻译的潜力，能够对英国经济和医疗保健产生重大影响。这一奖学金将使我能够利用我在大学内的领导角色，在已经建立的现有跨教职员工合作的基础上，通过我的指导角色培养下一代学者，以履行未来的领导职位，并确保眼科生物工程在大学的实力继续下去。它符合大学的战略重点，并将加强“面向未来的材料”，这是我们的7个机构研究主题之一。我现有的与业界的合作将为进一步将新技术应用于商业领域提供基础，我与皇家利物浦大学医院圣保罗眼科单元的临床医生的密切合作将使我能够接触到临床眼科社区。我将利用我现有的国际声誉，巩固利物浦和英国作为眼科生物材料和工程领域领先的世界级研究中心的地位。对于个人来说，视力损失估计会造成20k GB pa的经济影响。就英国经济而言，每年的成本约为65亿GB，其中包括直接医疗成本和间接成本，如无偿照顾者和失业。在情感上，失明对个人来说可能是毁灭性的。这一既定的职业研究金将提供平台，在此基础上建立一个卓越的眼科生物工程中心，有能力为解决这些问题作出重大贡献。

项目成果

Antimicrobial Effect of Nitric Oxide Releasing Hydrogels on Staphylococcus Aureus Derived Proteases

• DOI: 10.1002/admi.202202472
• 发表时间: 2023-04-21
• 期刊: ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
• 影响因子: 5.4
• 作者: Deller，Robert C.;Li，Man;D'Sa，Raechelle A.
• 通讯作者: D'Sa，Raechelle A.

Flow behavior of heavy silicone oil during eye movements.

眼球运动过程中重硅油的流动行为。

• DOI: 10.1167/iovs.14-15439
• 发表时间: 2014
• 期刊: Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
• 影响因子: 4.4
• 作者: Chan YK

Plasma polymerization using helium atmospheric-pressure plasma jet with heptylamine monomer

• DOI: 10.1002/ppap.201800185
• 发表时间: 2019-04-01
• 期刊: PLASMA PROCESSES AND POLYMERS
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: Doherty, Kyle G.;Oh, Jun-Seok;Williams, Rachel L.
• 通讯作者: Williams, Rachel L.