Robert Neely, University of Birmingham - Enzymatic tools for biotechnology and medicine
The early detection of diseases such as cancer is a significant challenge. Yet it also represents a significant opportunity for us to improve healthcare. In the case of cancer, early detection of malignancy can dramatically improve the prospects for those who are diagnosed. This project will develop biochemistry, analytical tools and state-of-the-art imaging solutions that will allow us to identify diseases like cancer in their early stages of development, in a non-invasive way. The project is a collaboration between chemists, medics and clinicians and aims to develop simple tests that will improve our ability to treat individual patients.

Asier Unciti-Broceta, University of Edinburgh - Palladium-Activated Prodrug Therapy

This proposal will exploit the biocompatibility and unique catalytic properties of Palladium to create implantable medical devices that will convert inactive drug precursors into anticancer agents just at the tumour site. By increasing the efficacy and reducing the adverse effects of existing chemotherapies, this revolutionary strategy will improve the quality of life and life expectancy of patients suffering from localised cancers of the prostate and the brain, for whom conventional therapeutic approaches have failed to provide a solution.

Ruchi Gupta, University of Hull - Wearable Organic Integrated Sensors for Healthcare: Smart Dressings, a Step Change in Wound Management
Chronic wounds pose significant societal challenges and currently cost ~£3 billion annually in the UK. The incidence of chronic wounds is predicted to increase due to lifestyle changes and an ageing population. Standard dressings do not provide insights into the status of the wound underneath and are often changed, which hampers the normal healing process, causes stress and pain to patients, and consumes a significant amount of healthcare professionals' time and dressing materials contributing to spiralling costs. This research will develop a smart dressing with an array of sensors for monitoring wounds' status to facilitate rapid healing while reducing costs.

James Walsh, University of Liverpool - Establishing a Centre for Plasma Microbiology
There is an unprecedented clinical need to establish new strategies to manage the colonisation of medical devices by complex bacterial communities ‘biofilms’. Such contamination presents a particularly resilient reservoir of infection, shielded from antibiotics, that often leads to the emergence of multidrug-resistant colonies. This award will establish a multidisciplinary centre of excellence focused on the development of novel plasma based physical interventions to prevent biofilm formation on medical devices.

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