National Biofilms Innovation Centre NBIC Flexible Talent Mobility Account
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
- University of Southampton (Lead Research Organisation)
- Manchester Metropolitan University (Collaboration)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (Collaboration)
- DNV GL (Collaboration)
- Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC) Ltd (Collaboration)
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jeremy Webb (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Highmore C
(2025)
Real-time detection of Foodborne Pathogens and Biofilm in the food processing environment with Bactiscan, a macro-scale fluorescence device
in Journal of Food Protection
Townsend EM
(2020)
CAUTI's next top model - Model dependent Klebsiella biofilm inhibition by bacteriophages and antimicrobials.
in Biofilm
| Description | The award is very attractive for inter academic and industry collaborations. NBIC was able to award 34 quality projects for placements and fellowships. Half of them have completed despite of the hardships of the Pandemic. Successful results included further funding, publication, and job creation. Scientific accomplishment include biological solutions for green and clean production and energy saving methodology, by collaboration between biocoating researcher from University of Surrey and a biological solutions company working together to make waste water treatment less energy intensive by introducing specific biocoating for wastewater treatments facilities. The collaboration is exploring further development of the project into actual products and industrial applications. |
| Exploitation Route | The award was very well received across NBIC's wide network of researchers and companies, and led to efficient pairing of unmet industry needs with research expertise. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Education Energy Environment Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| URL | http://www.biofilms.ac.uk |
| Description | The impacts from this FTMA award are all reported in the return for BBSRC NBIC (BB/R012415/1) |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Description | Screening method (Claudio Lourenco) |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Advanced live imaging for the Eastern ARC with dual inverted light-sheets and AI-led analysis |
| Amount | £481,950 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/W020033/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2022 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | Developing Human Skin Microbiota Models to Replace Rodent Studies and Explore Host-Microbe Interactions |
| Amount | £390,189 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NC/Z500690/1 |
| Organisation | National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2024 |
| End | 11/2026 |
| Description | Modulating Host-Microbial Pathways to Prevent Diabetic Foot Ulcer-Related Amputations |
| Amount | £346,453 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 24/0006760 |
| Organisation | Diabetes UK |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2025 |
| End | 03/2028 |
| Description | SUrfaCe Characteristics Enabled StrategieS against virus transmission (SUCCESS) |
| Amount | £649,501 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V029762/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2020 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Title | Model reactor and culture system for biofilm metrology studies. |
| Description | We have developed a CDC reactor model system for Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture in order to carry out studies of biofilm reproducibility in partnership with LGC. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Knowledge exchange and collaborative work in the area of biofilm metrology with industry partner LGC. |
| Title | Porcine Skin as a Model for Human Biofilm Research |
| Description | NBIC-funded industry placement (NBIC FTMA3_21_007) demonstrated the suitability of in vivo pig skin as a living microbiome model which is compositionally more similar to human skin than mouse skin. |
| Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - mammalian in vivo |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This model will enable the industry partner to develop further opportunities by providing commercial collaborators with a validated human-relevant skin microbiome model in pigs, which was previously unreported and unappreciated. |
| Title | Using H-NMR to detect the generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (Claudio Lourenco) |
| Description | This technique consists in the use of H-NMR to follow the reactions taking place within a complex formulation with particular emphasis in the generation of ROS. On its own the technique can effectively detect and quantify the elements present in the mixture. By fine tuning the pH of the environment the generation of ROS can be increased and its half-life in solution increased. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The main impact is that it allows a quick screening and quantification of a complex mixture of ingredients within a solution. It can be extremely valuable to compare new formulations enabling the researcher to test the reactants efficacy in the early stages of product development saving costs and time on not so good formulations. |
| Title | Workflow for genomic assessment of microbially influenced corrosion |
| Description | The team have developed expertise in field based DNA sequencing and the use of the Nanopore sequencing platform for energy sector samples. Furthermore, the secondment has facilitate the development of industry links, both in the UK and internationally through DNV GL's global research team. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The FTMA application has allowed knowledge exchange between NBIC researchers and renewable energy industries and infrastructure that will be required for the energy transition. This has involved working with DNV who provide access to bacterial corrosion samples, and have assets such as wind farms and pipeline digs and are who are familiar with the industries standardisation processes. |
| Title | YouSeq The ONE 16S NGS kit |
| Description | Create a ready to sequence 16S Library in one closed tube reaction. The ONE 16S NGS kit contains all of the reagents necessary to create a ready-to-sequence NGS library in minutes. In a breakthrough kit format, the user simply performs one closed tube qPCR reaction. The variable regions V3/4 are targeted, amplified and adapters are added in a single reaction. The quantitative PCR read out simultaneously quantifies each library so they can be pooled precisely. Then a simple bead-clean completes the workflow. After sequencing, the data can then be loaded on to our cloud for rapid analysis. A detailed report is typically returned within 15 minutes. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This product was developed during an NBIC funded secondment. |
| URL | https://youseq.com/product/the-one-16s-ngs-kit/8 |
| Title | Efficacy dataset for antimicrobial coatings |
| Description | NBIC-funded FTMA3_21_019 project "Screening the antimicrobial potential of nanoparticle coatings" generated a dataset on the activity of novel antimicrobial nanoparticle coatings. The antimicrobial coatings wre screened against environmental and medical pathogens to evaluate the potential application of these materials on surfaces including handles, pipes, and medical device materials. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The work demonstrated that the antimicrobial nanoparticles mixed into paint had a significant reduction of the bacterial viability. This enables the industry partner to demonstrate the efficiacy of their formulation and to move forward with antiviral testing of the paint. |
| Description | Clinical collaboration with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (Mohamed El Mohtadi) |
| Organisation | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Securing the FTMA has allowed me to strengthen my collaboration with 5D Health Protection Group Ltd and Manchester Metropolitan University which resulted in me obtaining a Visiting Lecturer position at MMU. The in vitro work carried out during the fellowship has attracted clinical collaborations as we are now replicating the experiments using clinical samples obtained from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust operated Salford Royal Hospital. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The role of collaborators (i.e. Dr Ashworth) involves the conceptualisation of project ideas and supervision of students. This will ultimately lead to increased research outcomes and the publication of several original research articles in the near future. |
| Impact | Submission of a grant bid to the Academy of Medical Sciences. The application is currently under review. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Clinical collaboration with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (Mohamed El Mohtadi) |
| Organisation | Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Securing the FTMA has allowed me to strengthen my collaboration with 5D Health Protection Group Ltd and Manchester Metropolitan University which resulted in me obtaining a Visiting Lecturer position at MMU. The in vitro work carried out during the fellowship has attracted clinical collaborations as we are now replicating the experiments using clinical samples obtained from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust operated Salford Royal Hospital. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The role of collaborators (i.e. Dr Ashworth) involves the conceptualisation of project ideas and supervision of students. This will ultimately lead to increased research outcomes and the publication of several original research articles in the near future. |
| Impact | Submission of a grant bid to the Academy of Medical Sciences. The application is currently under review. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | DNV-GL Industrial Partnership |
| Organisation | DNV GL |
| Country | Norway |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in field based microbial genome sequencing |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to industrial sampling sites |
| Impact | No publication outputs yet |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Industry partnership with LGC |
| Organisation | Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC) Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | LGC Group, formerly the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, is an international life sciences measurement and tools company. It provides the role and duties of the UK Government Chemist, a statutory role and adviser to the government. We are working together in the metrology of biofilms, to understand the feasibility of developing new standards for molecular and 'omics approaches to measuring biofilms. We are providing the biofilm models and culture systems in order to generate biological material for the studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | LGC are applying in-house analytical measurements and approaches in order to understand the variability and reproducibility of biofilm assays, and the feasibility to develop new standards. |
| Impact | Knowledge exchange in use of the CDC biofilm reactor model and in biofilm metrology. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Studies in Solid Formulation Stability |
| Organisation | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Due to the work conducted during my EngD studies in combination with the success of this project (NBIC_FTMA_P_19_2_38), GSK and UCL signed an Exchange Knowledge Agreement and funded a 6 month study on the stability of solid formulations. The study was conducted by me under supervision of Ivan Parkin and employed a spectroscopic techniques (H- NMR, IR, UV/Vis) and scanning electron microscopy. This study can help the development of stronger formulations by giving insights on the increase of its reactive oxygen species output. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Funding of study. |
| Impact | None as yet. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | The University of Sheffield - Kraton Collaboration (Andrew Parnell) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | Sheffield Biorepository |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have used the existing commercially available block copolymers to show how important stiffness is on producing materials that have surface antibacterial properties. These are stiff but also have rubbery behaviour making them suitable for a whole host of technological applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Kraton have and will continue to provide an assortment of cutting edge block copolymers. These are bcp's with varying chain architecture. These are currently being synthesised in their pilot plant in Houston. In principle they have the capability to made at scale and are low cost due to the feedstock material. They also have been used previously in some medical implants, as such the routes to gaining clearance will be easier. |
| Impact | A draft of a patent is currently being processed by my technology transfer office. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Title | Antiviral filters for face masks and air ventilation systems to prevent coronavirus transmission (Faradin Mirkhalaf) |
| Description | We have developed a new technology for the modification of filters in order to capture and kill viruses and bacteria from the air flow. The modified filters were used in face masks and tested on coronavirus. After testing, the filters showed 100% efficient to remove and kill corona viruses from the air flow. The face masks have been prototyped and are in the market (see: nanoxx.co.uk).The application of this technology for air ventilation systems is under development and we are seeking industrial/investor partners to complete this mission. |
| Type | Preventative Intervention - Physical/Biological risk modification |
| Current Stage Of Development | Small-scale adoption |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2021 |
| Development Status | Actively seeking support |
| Impact | We are using a similar technology to modify metal and textiles to induce antibiofilm properties within our NBIC FTMA3 projects. |
| URL | http://nanoxx.co.uk |
| Title | Development of biofilm inhibition testing to the ASTM standard for implanted medical devices |
| Description | From NBIC-funded project FTMA_20_IF_079: A standardised biofilm testing was developed to the well-known ASTM standards, a biofilm testing service that MTIF did not have, and now they can provide it to manufacturers, developers and academic researchers of implantable medical device materials and other anti-biofilm materials within the region and at low cost |
| Type | Support Tool - For Medical Intervention |
| Current Stage Of Development | Small-scale adoption |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2022 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | Nanoparticles (Eden Mannix-Fisher) |
| Description | Copper nanoparticles created by Pharm2Farm are being tested for their antimicrobial efficacy when mixed into paint and coated onto the surface of paint. The product can have many different applications both within and outside of medicine if successful. |
| Type | Products with applications outside of medicine |
| Current Stage Of Development | Initial development |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2022 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | Should this antimicrobial work, the data generated from this secondment on the antimicrobial efficacy may generate income for Pharm2Farm and the customer AksoNobel. It may also be used to decrease the incidence of disease through utilisation as a coating on door handles, walls, beds etc. within a hospital setting. |
| Title | Bactiscan |
| Description | Bactiscan is a UV based micro-organism detection technology that allows microbial contaminants to be detected by the naked eye. Through an NBIC-funded project NBIC FTMA3_21_027, the limit of detection for bacteria, biofilms, and the viable but nonculturable state, of Bactiscan was investigated. |
| Type Of Technology | Detection Devices |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | The detection limit for Bactiscan for 4 foodborne pathogen species was found, measured in ambient laboratory light, and in darkness. No differences in brightness or colour were observed between fluorescence of different bacterial species, and level of lighting had a limited effect on the ability to observe bacterial contamination by Bactiscan. These data allow Biopharma Group to answer frequent questions from consumers in the food industry, and permit a more comprehensive comparison of Bactiscan against other detection methods used in the sector.The findings on biofilm detection and stress states provide Biopharma Group with new insights on how Bactiscan can be best applied to food processing factories, and places them in a better position to contrast against the industry standard of ATP testing. |
| URL | https://eit-international.com/products/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2oW-BhC2ARIsADSIAWowmQrMIiMaTgwxd... |
| Title | Bespoke Biofilm Monitoring Devices at Drinking Water Treatment Works |
| Description | NBIC-funded FTMA3_21_010 advanced the understanding of biofilm growth in operational systems and informed sustainable microbial management approaches by designing and implementing a pilot field-project to detect and monitor biofilm growth throughout a drinking water treatment works. Bespoke biofilm monitoring devices were designed, built and installed at the treatment works, and the sampling methods to detect and monitor biofilms optimised. |
| Type Of Technology | Detection Devices |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | This FTMA provided the opportunity to begin to address an industrial challenge by elevating the technological level of a biofilm-monitoring device that, if proven, will support further key advancements in biofilm and water quality management. |
| Title | Optimisation of a new method for aqua- and agri-culture feedstock production, by using engineered biofilm-forming cyanobacteria as a food source |
| Description | NBIC FTMA Fellowship F_19_2_31 aimed to optimise a new method for aqua- and agri-culture feedstock production, by using engineered biofilm-forming cyanobacteria as a food source. Fishmeal is usually derived from ocean prey fish and their stocks are being depleted. Using cyanobacteria and micro algae has been attempted in the past but farmed fish including salmon and trout are unable to digest large quantities because of the exopolysaccharides - important components of biofilm. The project's industry partner are engineering new strains to keep the beneficial aspects of biofilm whilst making them readily digestible to the fish. The collaboration was successful, and the protocols designed during the FTMA Innovation Fellowship were to be implemented in the following round of feeding trials. |
| Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Finding new ways to make renewable protein sources in feedstock production is a high priority area of research and this project is aligned to the to the UKRI Transforming Food Production Industry Challenge. |
| Title | Rapid, multi-dimension, long term lightsheet imaging of fungal biofilms under conditions of minimal phototoxicity |
| Description | NBIC-funded flexible talent fellowship FTMA_20_IF_083 successfully developed light sheet microscopy to monitor the development of a dense fungal biofilm. This technology enables, for the first time, accurate methods for biomarker identification in complex biofilms, an essential step to enable early diagnosis of the many diseases caused by fungal biofilms and provide new insights to enable eradication. |
| Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This technology can now be applied to a new field and opens a new customer base for industry partner 3i, as was planned from the project outset. |
| Description | BBC Futures Article: Our skin is teeming with microbes. We should learn to love them (Dr Holly Wilkinson) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | This article was produced from an interview with the BBC to discuss the importance of the skin microbiome in health and disease. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20240813-the-surprising-benefits-of-the-microbes-that-live-on-y... |
| Description | Exploring Novel Anti-biofilm Technology Use in New Areas (NBIC Case Study) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Highlight the success of an NBIC funded project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.biofilms.ac.uk/anti-biofilm-technology/ |
| Description | Interview for Radio 5 live (Eleanor Jameson) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I gave an interview on Naga Munchetty's lunch time national radio show. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | NBIC Secure 180K from BBSRC for FTMA3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | News article on NBIC website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.biofilms.ac.uk/nbic-ftma3/ |
| Description | Panel member for the Skin Microbiome in Healthy Ageing Networking Event (Dr Holly Wilkinson) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Skin Microbiome in Healthy Ageing conference attracted 80 delegates from across the UK, with wonderful numbers of early career researchers registered and lots of industry participation. It sparked debate about the current climate of skin microbiome research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.smiha.org/news/smiha-conference-attracts-80-delegates-from-all-across-the-uk |
| Description | Poster at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (Mohamed El Mohtadi) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I have presented my fellowship-related research findings at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (Lisbon, Portugal on 23 - 26 April 2022). ECCMID is labelled as the world's premier Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases event, which was attended by an audience of over 14,000 colleagues from National and International institutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Poster presentation at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I have presented my fellowship-related research findings at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal on 23 - 26 April 2022. ECCMID is labelled as the world's premier Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases event, which was attended by an audience of over 14,000 colleagues from National and International institutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Secrete Science of Sewage (Eleanor Jameson) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | My research was discussed on a BBC horizon documentary. I discussed my research and implications with the presenter and demonstrated my bacteriophages. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000t8zl/the-secret-science-of-sewage |
| Description | Skin Deep: The Microbiome's Role in Healthy Skin - Microbiome Medics Podcast (Dr Holly Wilkinson) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Here I went on the Microbiome Medics podcast to talk about the importance of the skin microbiome in health and disease. The Microbiome Medics Podcast is the place where clinicians, scientists and anyone else can learn about Human Microbiomes, Lifestyle Medicine, how they connect and how they can be harnessed to improve health outcomes. The host of the podcast highlighted that this episode was the highest rated and engaged with episode of the year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cjCBB7uCPUllPjYjOqumw |
| Description | Transforming 16S Sequencing (NBIC case study) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Highlight the success of an NBIC funded project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.biofilms.ac.uk/transforming-16s-sequencing/ |