Healthcare
HEALTHCARE
People worldwide are living longer, leading to massive healthcare challenges.
With increased longevity comes the challenge of providing effective treatments for the various illnesses and diseases that people will experience during their lifetime. The ability to provide a quick and accurate diagnosis, as well as having therapeutics and strategies to treat and prevent illness, are essential. At the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, we have a number of globally recognized academics conducting cutting-edge research to meet these challenges - see below for key examples of how our academics are working towards making the world a healthier place.
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Professor Steven Bell - Pushing Boundaries in Vibrational Analytical Techniques
An expert in Raman spectroscopy, Professor Bell's work has led to the development of instruments for monitoring markers of disease and causative factors in collaboration with Avalon Instruments, which was later sold to PerkinElmer Instruments.
- Professor Andrew Mills - Revolutionising Disease Diagnosis with 3D Printing
Professor Mills, who is currently involved in an EPSRC project which seeks to develop 3D-printed colourimetric indicator strips for non-invasive, on-demand chronic wound monitoring, having the potential to positively impact approximately 650,000 patients in the UK, and bring about cost savings for the NHS of around £3B per year. His work has valuable application in other health-related areas, exemplified by his involement with Insignia Technologies, developing smart indicators for food products.
- Dr Stephen Cochrane - Identifying the Future of Antibiotics
Dr Cochrane is an early-career researcher who specializes in the discovery of novel antibiotics, and whose work has been funded through three EPSRC awards. His group develop new antimicrobials that target multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria and have recently filed a patent in relation to one of their discoveries, potentially bringing about a new era in the treatment of infection.
- Professor AP de Silva - Paving the Way for Blood Sample Analysis
Professor de Silva's research into fluorescent sensors for electrolytes were incorporated into OPTI blood analyzers by Roche Diagnostics. These devices were subsequently sold by Optimedical and IDEXX Laboratories. Thanks to his work, lives of many trauma patients have been saved through data generated from these OPTI blood analysers, which enabled a deeper understanding of salt shock following blood transfusions.
- Dr Meilan Huang - Leveraging Computational Methods for Lead Compound Discovery
Dr Huang's work on structure-based drug lead discovery and optimization, computational prediction of protein structure and function of enzymatic reactions has led to her leadership of a major interdisciplinary Invest Northern Ireland grant developing cutting-edge biotechnology in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Almac entitled “In silico informed metagenomic harvesting technology platform.
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Dr Mark Muldoon - Targeted Training in Continuous Flow Approaches
This innovative Training Network (ITN) is led by Dr Mark Muldoon and funded by the European Commission. It is a unique international collaboration between academic and industrial partners, developing powerful new methods for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients using continuous flow technologies.
The Healthcare theme boasts a broad range of research expertise, with publications in areas including molecular modelling for drug discovery, novel sensors for detection of disease, the synthesis and discovery of novel therapeutics and novel strategies for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.