Dr Anthony Callanan, University of Edinburgh

Dr Callanan aims to develop a fluidic platform that can test the functionality of antioxidant biomaterials that can potentially be used to treat damaged tissue. All tissue damage induced by wear, lifestyle or post-cancer survival can lead to high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This can hinder regeneration approaches using such processes as stem cells. There have been huge developments in antioxidant biomaterials in recent years, treating all different types of in vivo tissue. These types of biomaterials are still in their infancy and have the potential to impact massively on future treatments, from implanted cells to activation of in situ progenitor cells. However, for these innovations to fully be exploited, vital design optimisation is required that considers the fluidic nature of the treatment sites within the damaged tissue. This work shall develop and investigate antioxidant biomaterial functionality within 3D fluidic systems, accessing their ability to control and mediate levels of reactive oxygen species. The long-term goal of this work is to develop and enhance antioxidant biomaterial functionality as a treatment approach.