• Developing biomaterials for regenerative medicine, including: organ specific scaffolds for three dimensional cell culture in vitro; organ specific microcarrier for high throughput cell culture and secretome production; implantable biomaterials and drug and cell delivery systems; and materials for immunobiomodulation in situ.

  • Expertise in cell engineering and the design of multifunctional soft materials – including hydrogels, coatings, dynamic stimuli-responsive materials, and 3D patterning approaches – as well as precise control of microenvironment parameters, is used to create and maintain reproducible culture conditions to facilitate new avenues for cell manufacture.

  • Custom designed magnetic or photonic nanoparticles can generate heat or light in a highly controllable, precise and efficient manner, across a wide range of length scales. When these nanoparticles are combined with drug carrying macromolecules or catalytic materials, heat or light triggered drug release can be achieved. The nanoparticles can also be used as a contrast agent or tracer for imaging (MRI, MPI) and sensing of biological systems. This technology is used in situations where spatial, temporal and dosage control is required in drug delivery, or where simultaneous drug delivery and medical imaging or sensing is required for effective treatment of disease or injuries.

  • Functional biomaterials and bioengineered tissues will play a key role in replacing and regenerating injured and diseased tissue in our ageing population, have the potential to revolutionise drug, medical device and cosmetics testing, and enable the study of disease development and progression in human tissues rather than in animal models.

  • A novel fibre optic dental instrumentation system to provide true understanding of the curing behaviour of dental materials. This system could be also used as a dental restoration training platform for dental practitioners. This research program is aimed to contribute to the development of technology, education and training to achieve dental restorations of the highest quality.

  • Lab-on-a-chip is a microdevice that controls chemical and biological processing using microfluidic integrated circuits. A laboratory process can be miniaturised, automated, and distributed to point-of-care. Alternatively, lab-on-a-chip can be automated and scaled-out using culture processes for delivery of cell and gene therapy.

  • Strategies for improved medical device compliance and patient involvement in research, and expertise in genomics, immunology, microbiology, image analysis and mathematical modelling to improve the diagnosis and management strategies for corneal infections.

  • Examining the bio-legal implications and social-political impact of biotechnology: with advances in bioscience come entire new methods, paradigmatic shifts in human self-understanding or modes of production, for which law often does not yet have sufficient knowledge to regulate, support or prohibit. Yet the law creates the landscape in which that research is conducted.