UWE Bristol with Santorini Scientific Ltd have been successful in securing grant funding from Innovate UK to form a new 3-month Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) project titled: Accelerating development of a multi-sensor, multi-culture cell model for evaluation of heart transplant rejection to enable personalised treatment.
Santorini Scientific state that their mission is to drive and implement medical advances which will allow heart transplant patients to live their lives to the fullest. They have identified the following three streams to improve quality of life for heart transplant patients: 3D Bioprinting the world’s first transplantable human heart, using T cell Therapy to achieve allograft tolerance, and early modelling and detection of rejection.
Heart transplant rejection affects more than 50% of transplant patients. The pioneering approach of this project is to develop a laboratory based biological vascular model with sensors to monitor biological indicators of rejection, which addresses this critical challenge. Thus, through greater understanding of relevant biological processes, personalised treatment will be improved, and new effective drugs developed.
Dr Alex Yue is Head of Instrumentation at the Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology at UWE Bristol, and will be leading on this project. He is a highly proficient electronic engineer with both academic and industrial R&D experience, with specialist expertise in sensor systems and instrumentation for medical applications.
Dr Tom Draper and Dr David Ferrier will be joining this imminent project as associates, bringing a vast array of expertise. Dr Draper has specialisms in nanotechnology, molecular biology, and fluidic system design, and Dr Ferrier in biosensor technology.
Accelerated Knowledge Transfers are ‘designed to build an intensive partnership with a specialist academic team to deliver a short, and targeted intervention to accelerate the evaluation or development of an innovation project or concept, which has the potential for significant impact for the Business Partner.’
