Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will pr ....Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will provide longer lasting implants and reduce the need for repeated operations. This will improve the quality of life for implant recipients and reduce health care costs.Read moreRead less
Injectable scaffolds for treatments of neurological disorders. Cell replacement therapies offer potentially effective treatments for a host of neurological disorders but a major obstacle confronting their development is to ensure appropriate connections are formed within the brain. This proposal aims to utilize injectable biodegradable polymers, to demonstrate the feasibility of assisting neural cells and stem cells to bridge glial scars or significant distances in the brain and repair damaged n ....Injectable scaffolds for treatments of neurological disorders. Cell replacement therapies offer potentially effective treatments for a host of neurological disorders but a major obstacle confronting their development is to ensure appropriate connections are formed within the brain. This proposal aims to utilize injectable biodegradable polymers, to demonstrate the feasibility of assisting neural cells and stem cells to bridge glial scars or significant distances in the brain and repair damaged neural pathways. This proposal will focus on naturally occurring polysaccharides, which will act as "scaffolds" for the growing neurones. The role the scaffolds play in regulating neurite extension will be investigated in vitro and in vivo.Read moreRead less
Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types o ....Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types of tissues being generated for clinical applications, including possible applications in the treatment of heart disease, the largest killer of people in the Western world. Read moreRead less
Manipulating nano-fibres to control nerve regeneration. Diseases of the brain and mind are the most common diseases in the western world; being even more prevalent than cardiac or malignant disease. With Australia's aging demographic, diseases of the brain and mind will continue to impact on our productivity in the workplace, our quality of life, and the ability of the medicare and private health care systems to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for older Australians.
The research prop ....Manipulating nano-fibres to control nerve regeneration. Diseases of the brain and mind are the most common diseases in the western world; being even more prevalent than cardiac or malignant disease. With Australia's aging demographic, diseases of the brain and mind will continue to impact on our productivity in the workplace, our quality of life, and the ability of the medicare and private health care systems to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for older Australians.
The research proposed here will enable us to find solutions to this serious problem by building on Australia's strong track record in nanotechnology and biotechnology research, and help towards new and effective treatments.
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Blood component interactions with polysaccharide biomaterials for vascular applications. Heart disease is the major killer of people in Australia and the Western world. It is due mainly to the blockage of vessels supplying the muscle of the heart with blood and nutrients, which can be replaced or by-passed but the supply of native vessels in the body is limited. Tissue engineering laboratories have been trying to develop blood vessels for this use for many years without significant success. T ....Blood component interactions with polysaccharide biomaterials for vascular applications. Heart disease is the major killer of people in Australia and the Western world. It is due mainly to the blockage of vessels supplying the muscle of the heart with blood and nutrients, which can be replaced or by-passed but the supply of native vessels in the body is limited. Tissue engineering laboratories have been trying to develop blood vessels for this use for many years without significant success. This application plans to understand the molecular signals contained within the sugar sequences used in a commonly used biomaterial chitosan that may be used in the construction of synthetic vascular grafts. If we can understand how blood cells interact with this biomaterial, we may be able to develop a blood vessel in the laboratory.Read moreRead less
Targeted growth factor delivery using natural polysaccharide materials for bone regeneration. This proposal addresses the core issue of nano-biomaterials capable of encouraging bone growth and providing better and more complete healing of bone fractures. Australia will benefit firstly through improved health outcomes by providing material-based solutions to address slow or non-healing fractures, which are increasingly prevalent in the aging population in Australia. This will have a further benef ....Targeted growth factor delivery using natural polysaccharide materials for bone regeneration. This proposal addresses the core issue of nano-biomaterials capable of encouraging bone growth and providing better and more complete healing of bone fractures. Australia will benefit firstly through improved health outcomes by providing material-based solutions to address slow or non-healing fractures, which are increasingly prevalent in the aging population in Australia. This will have a further benefit to the Australian economy improving the quality of life enabling people to work longer and reducing the need for further surgical intervention. This proposal will also have benefits to Australia through training future researchers in this field which will in turn provide economic growth through the development of Australian industries.Read moreRead less
Engineering Articular Cartilage with Zonal Structure and Function. This project addresses the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and specifically the Priority Goal of Ageing well, ageing productively. Osteoarthritis, the most common cartilage-related disease, affects nearly 1.4 million Australians, resulting in 2 in 1000 Australians undergoing total joint replacement, annually. The incidence and impact of cartilage damage on the Australian health and economy is e ....Engineering Articular Cartilage with Zonal Structure and Function. This project addresses the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and specifically the Priority Goal of Ageing well, ageing productively. Osteoarthritis, the most common cartilage-related disease, affects nearly 1.4 million Australians, resulting in 2 in 1000 Australians undergoing total joint replacement, annually. The incidence and impact of cartilage damage on the Australian health and economy is expected to increase with the ageing population. This work leads to the development of a novel cartilage engineering technology platform that addresses Frontier Technologies and will thus provide the foundation for translation of this technology to the international marketplace. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101666
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Endogenous bone regenerative technique to repair hard tissue defects in congenital craniofacial clefts. This project aims to develop an endogenous bone regenerative technique to repair the bony defects in congenital craniofacial clefts, through stimulating patients' latent self-repair mechanisms and reviving their innate capacity for regeneration. The novel technique would replace the existing and controversial surgical bone grafting method.
Design and characterisation of a polysaccharide-based biomaterial for tissue adhesion. This proposal aims to design a new bio-adhesive material and study the mechanisms of action for tissue adhesion. Current suture technology is inadequate for anything but simple repairs and the alternative offered by surgical glues available today is at most augmentation of suturing. Combination of a strong adhesive biomaterial with factors for accelerating wound healing will generate a novel material technolo ....Design and characterisation of a polysaccharide-based biomaterial for tissue adhesion. This proposal aims to design a new bio-adhesive material and study the mechanisms of action for tissue adhesion. Current suture technology is inadequate for anything but simple repairs and the alternative offered by surgical glues available today is at most augmentation of suturing. Combination of a strong adhesive biomaterial with factors for accelerating wound healing will generate a novel material technology that, by uniting wound closure with sealing, addresses an unmet need in surgery.
The primary outcomes of these investigations will be:
1. advancement of knowledge in theories of tissue-biomaterial adhesion mechanisms
2. knowledge of effects of visible light from laser diodes on cells and isolated tissue
3. a biocompatible, visible light activated adhesive film for tissue repair based on chitosan polysaccharides
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Molecularly engineered cell-instructive hydrogels for enhanced tissue regeneration. The outcomes of this project will be relevant to range of wounds, including burns, bed-sores, and diabetic and venous ulcers. Clearly, innovation in wound healing is urgently required as the treatment of wounds represents a significant challenge at all levels of our society, in terms of cost (physical, emotional and financial) to patients, the economy and to the wider community. Despite this obvious and overwhelm ....Molecularly engineered cell-instructive hydrogels for enhanced tissue regeneration. The outcomes of this project will be relevant to range of wounds, including burns, bed-sores, and diabetic and venous ulcers. Clearly, innovation in wound healing is urgently required as the treatment of wounds represents a significant challenge at all levels of our society, in terms of cost (physical, emotional and financial) to patients, the economy and to the wider community. Despite this obvious and overwhelming need, research in wound healing is relatively under-developed and has yet to adopt modern biotechnology and biomaterials approaches. This project is therefore directed at generating cost-effective frontier wound dressing technologies that accelerate wound repair.Read moreRead less