GLOBAL - Promoting research partnerships in Advanced Materials for Healthcare

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.

Main beneficiaries of the outputs from the programme are intended to be (a) patients through enhanced treatments or technology, (b) the health delivery services who will apply the products, (c) associated companies in Medical Technology and Pharmaceutical Sciences who will make the products, and, of course, (d) increasing international research engagement in each of the collaborating organisations - Bradford and our Chinese partner institutions, and our UK collaborators (University partners and Medilink Y&H). Other parties will have opportunity to benefit from our Training and Research networks. Since the programme aims to focus on advanced materials for development of products aligned with the strategic priorities of both the Chinese and British governments in their respective health delivery policies and associated industries, we believe that there is also national and international value in the programme. In the short term, organisations involved in research and development of medical devices and medical technology solutions, including drug delivery systems will be the primary beneficiaries. Manufacturers of materials processing machinery will benefit, as will companies specialising in modelling and process monitoring instrumentation. Outputs from the proposed research will inform regulatory bodies, such as those operating within the medical technology and drugs sector, of emerging aspects of manufacturing process monitoring and control. The research will have medium-term benefits to the UK, China and international medical technology, pharmaceutical and associated sectors, and wider long-term benefits to the public through the possibility of novel medical devices and technologies, and therapeutic treatments. The understanding of the mechanism and kinetics of development of polymer and polymer-related morphologies during processing may enable the selection of new combinations of materials or novel processing routes to enable products or production outputs which are currently not possible. Significant potential for IP and commercial exploitation will benefit the healthcare sector of the UK economy by enhancing global competitiveness. Improved process understanding achieved through this project will support and facilitate regulatory monitoring processes. The wider manufacturing and chemical industries will benefit from the development and commercialisation of materials/products and applications which result from the enhanced manufacturing routes. In the longer term (5-10 years) it is envisaged that the healthcare sector and public wellbeing will benefit from the new materials, products and technologies developed from our research programme. Dissemination of the research and its findings will be actively promoted through communication with relevant academic and industrial contacts through conference and journal publications reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the research, our Science BridgesChina website and our Research Workshops in the UK and China (details are provided in the Pathways to Impact). We have strong industry links, and projects with industry which underline the importance of the development of advanced materials for medical technologies - we will encourage involvement of such companies where feasible. Exploitation of the research findings will be achieved initially through contract research activities. Commercial development of the project will be investigated by the University's Research and Knowledge Transfer Support unit. A business plan will be developed detailing service provision, routes to market, resource requirements and funding. Opportunities for further industry collaboration will be investigated throughout the duration of the project. The assembled project team have a strong track record in applied collaborative research, international collaborative research, running successful large scale programmes, and experience of successful commercialisation of leading academic research