This week Andrew Hook spoke to Chris Smith and Izzie Clarke on BBC Cambridgeshire as part of the Naked Scientists show, about the research of the Biomaterials Discovery Group in the bacteria resistant material, currently undergoing clinical trials with Camstent.
The show discusses the chemistry of the developed material, as well as the applications to healthcare and the financial impact it could have. As well as touching upon the wider aspects of the material, including the ongoing clinical trials and potential future applications.
The show has also been converted into a Naked Scientist podcast that can be listened to on their website (with a full transcript available).
Andrew's research at the University of Nottingham utilises high throughput screening to discover and develop biomaterials that positively impact the healthcare sector, focussing on polymers resistant to bacterial attachment. Recently he has been working on materials that contain functional groups taken from biology such that the final material is able to better mimic the sorts of materials found within the body. These sorts of materials could impact upon wounds, promoting faster healing.
Beyond materials discovery, Andrew is also interested in exploring how materials and biological systems interact and have used a number of different microscopy techniques to observe the way bacteria interact with surfaces in 3 dimensions.
More on Andrew's research can be found here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pharmacy/people/andrew.hook
Posted on Thursday 22nd August 2019