Advanced Materials Research Group
 

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Adam Dundas

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

2023 - Current - Assistant Professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering

2017 - 2023 - Research Fellow, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham

2014-2017 - PhD, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham

2010-2014 - Msci, School of Physics, University of Nottingham

Expertise Summary

I have developed an expertise in discovering and manufacturing novel biomaterials for healthcare applications. I have discovered biomaterials that prevent biofilm formation and promote wound healing. Much work has been done on translating coating materials into 3D biomaterials using droplet microfluidics. This has resulted in microparticles capable of promoting wound healing in a diabetic mouse model. My aim is to develop novel biomaterials that integrate materials and cells to form engineered living materials capable of treating autoimmune diseases.

Selected Publications

Past Research

Throughout my research career I have developed polymeric biomaterials for anti-biofilm and pro-wound healing applications using a variety of different manufacturing techniques. During my PhD I used in silico models to design polymers capable of preventing biofilm formation. I also have extensive experience in the synthesis of monomers and polymers using both microwave and conventional heating methods. Using a high throughput materials discovery platform called polymer microarrays, predicted materials were shown to prevent biofilm formation and outperform previously identified hit materials. These polymers were then used as a coating material on urinary catheters as a method to prevent catheter associated urinary tract infections. Samples were typically characterised using NMR, FTIR, Bright field microscopy, ToF-SIMS and confocal microscopy.

During my post-doctoral position, I developed an expertise in processing polymeric materials using droplet microfluidics. I used droplet microfluidics with functional surfactants to produce polymer microparticles capable of preventing biofilm formation but also for promoting wound healing in in vitro and in vivo models. This involved optimising flow conditions and surfactant concentrations to produce monodisperse particles with a functional surface. I predominantly used SEM and ToF-SIMS for the material characterisation of manufactured microparticles.

My final post-doctoral position involved synthesising oligomer materials to act as adjuvants for vaccine manufacture. This involved the scale-up of lauryl and butyl methacrylate oligomers from the 5 ml to the 3 L scale. Samples were typically characterised using NMR and GPC.

Advanced Materials Research Group

Faculty of Engineering
The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD



email:AdvMaterials@nottingham.ac.uk