Integration of polymeric 3D scaffolds within a perfused organ-on-a-chip system for the development of a soft organ model

An important research strand in biomaterials is the development of in-lab grown organs, which are increasingly mimicking the structural and biological complexity of human organs. These organs-on-a-chip (OOAC/microphysiological systems) are increasingly developed as an alternative to the use of animals in pharmaceutical testing. The field of OOACs is currently emerging beyond academic research and a number of companies are currently establishing themselves as key players in the field. One of these companies is CN-Bio, who have developed a complete microphysiological OOAC system that can investigate multi-organ interactions, and provide a standardised chip/plate based system to investigate drug toxicity and more. In this project we will collaborate with CN-Bio to develop polymeric scaffolds enabling 3D cell culture and incorporate these into the CNBio perfusion system. We will develop soft and flexible polymeric systems to target the development of soft organ models within an organ-on-a-chip systems. These in vitro models will be used to explore healthy and diseased tissue models. For example, we could aim to explore inflamed and cancer tissue models. If successful, this device will fill an important unmet need as a multifaceted organ model/in vitro testing platform.

There are numerous beneficiaries of this Advanced Biomedical Materials CDT. Firstly and of short term impact are the PhD students themselves. They will receive extensive research specific and professional/transferable skills training throughout the 4 years of the programme. They will have access to state of the art facilties and world leading academics, industry and clinicians. The training and potential placements are designed to maximise the impact of their research in terms of dissemination and movement of their research along the translation pathway.

Longer term benefits are that this distinct cohort will become the future UK Biomedical Materials leaders and be able to use their bespoke training and network within the cohort to collaborate on future worldwide funding opportunities and drive UK research in this area.

UK and international academics will benefit as they will gain the next generation of highly skilled postdoctoral researchers with knowledge and expertise not only in their specific research area but of industry, regulatory and clinical aspects.

UK and international industry will benefit - in the short term they will gain academic based research to further develop products and in the longer term have a pool of highly skilled graduates.

Clinicians will benefit from collaborative research and also the development of new and novel products to enhance the treatment of a variety of trauma and disease based needs from biomaterials.

The public will benefit as end users as patients that will have their quality of life improved from the products developed in the CDT and will be educated in novel technologies and materials to repair the human body. The UK economy will benefit from the reduced healthcare costs associated with the new and improved medical products developed in this CDT and subsequently from the trained graduates. The UK economy will also benefit from the increased revenue from medical sales products from the UK industrial partners we will be working with.

The impact of this CDT will be realised by direct academic, clinical and industrial engagement with the students allowing efficient and state of the at training and fast translation of developing products. Students will also be trained in knowledge exchange and will use these skills to disseminate their research to, and liaise with, the key stakeholders - the academic, industrial, clinical and public sectors. We will ensure widening participation routes are addressed in this CDT in order to include equality and diversity not only in our initial CDT student cohort but in future researcher generations to come.