Knowledge-based design of dental surfaces to combat oral biofilms

Oral diseases are among the most common noncommunicable diseases worldwide, affecting an estimated 3.5 billion people. There are major scientific challenges in understanding how protective technologies can be designed and fabricated so that oral biofilms can be controlled to prevent oral diseases. This interdisciplinary project will investigate the protective effect of natural materials that have gained increasing interest due to their abundant availability and environmentally friendly and biodegradable characteristics. This project will aim to advance this technology by combining advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques in both Physical Sciences and Life Sciences to understand how modifications of dental surfaces can be created with precision control on model tooth surfaces and how bacteria and model oral biofilms interact and behave at these surfaces so that their efficacy and mode of action can be understood. The PhD combines interdisciplinary science and global innovation. Unilever is one of the world's biggest Beauty & Personal care companies, with a broad and diverse portfolio of brands, e.g. Signal, Dove, Rexona, Vaseline, and Lifebuoy, serving billions of consumers across the globe. The Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces at the University of Liverpool is at the forefront of translating scientific advances into innovation. It is one of the four core partners of the £23M National Biofilm Innovation Centre (NBIC) (www.biofilms.ac.uk). The PhD involves enrolment in NBIC's Doctoral Training Centre which trains interdisciplinary PhD researchers at the Interface of Physical and Life Sciences to understand the behaviour of microbes at surfaces that are central to the global challenges of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Health, Food Security, Clean Water and Energy.