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

生物材料科学和工程的创新有可能为眼科疾病治疗的发展做出重大贡献，从而减轻全球社会的视力丧失负担。这些发展的基础是先进材料的设计和生产，这些材料具有驱动克服疾病破坏性所需的生物反应的关键特征。为了实现这些成果，迫切需要工程师，科学家和临床医生联合收割机他们的知识和专业知识，以解决21世纪的眼部保健问题，特别是人口老龄化。该研究金将在四个关键领域进行开发：1）使用环境友好的制造工艺设计和开发新型隐形眼镜材料;克服与硅基水凝胶相关的问题，并允许修改以纳入用于伤口愈合和抗微生物剂递送的生物活性分子，以对抗角膜感染，2）设计先进的凝胶以替代受损的角膜;克服了目前与生物材料如胶原或羊膜相关的问题，具有更好的控制、降低的免疫原性和因此更快的产品转化到临床的潜力，第三章使用新型大气pin等离子体进行空间分辨表面改性而不需要高真空的结膜细胞移植功能化表面的开发4）开发用于细胞扩增的受控底物，其使用设计用于模拟在明确定义的GMP条件下促进扩增的细胞外环境的表面，以允许这些细胞在治疗应用中更快速地翻译。这项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，并将许多学者的努力协调成一个主要的活动中心，并使我能够提供新型基质设计方面的专业知识，以推进先进的细胞疗法英国和国际上的几个团体正在开发针对眼部疾病的疗法。将先进材料方面的专业知识与这些团队结合在一起，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。这项奖学金将使我能够利用我在大学内的领导作用，建立在现有的跨学院合作的基础上，并通过我的指导作用，培养下一代学者，以履行未来的领导职务，并确保眼科生物工程的实力在大学的延续。它符合大学的战略重点，并将加强“未来材料”，这是我们的7个机构研究主题之一。我与业界现有的合作将为进一步利用新技术进入商业领域提供基础，我与皇家利物浦大学医院圣保罗眼科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，加强利物浦和英国在眼科生物材料和工程领域的领先世界级研究的地位。对于一个人来说，失明估计会产生2万英镑的财务影响。对于英国经济来说，每年的直接医疗成本和间接成本（如无薪护理人员和失业）约为65亿英镑。视力的丧失对个人来说可能是毁灭性的。这个既定的职业奖学金将提供一个平台，从中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做出实质性贡献。

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.