Objective Bone has a remarkable capacity to heal. However, in some instances the amount of bone which is needed to heal exceeds its healing capacity. These cases arise following accidents, infection or surgery to remove cancerous tissue and they result in the need to perform approximately 600,000 surgical bone grafting procedures annually. These procedures have inherent disadvantages and so there is an urgent clinical need to develop a tissue engineering alternative to bone grafting.In this study an osteoconductive/osteoinductive nanoscaffold will be designed to retain growth factors with proven osteogenic potential within their structure. As such, relatively low doses of these expensive molecules can be retained at the bone defect site. The technology developed in this study has enormous potential to reduce the overall burden placed on patients and on European healthcare systems by reducing the costs involved in using Growth Factors in a variety of applications. To perform this work the Fellow will move from Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland to join a leading orthopaedic research group at one of Harvard University’s teaching hospitals where he will be trained in nanotoxicity testing, detection of growth factor release, cell loading and orthopaedic preclinical models. The Fellow has extensive knowledge in the field of biomaterials and orthopaedic research having trained at the AO Research Institute, Davos, Switzerland. However this fellowship will allow him to develop his knowledge in the field of biocompatibility testing. Knowledge developed in this area will be transferred back to Europe during the return phase of the fellowship. This knowledge will allow the Fellow to further refine the research carried out at Harvard. The goal of this research is to develop translational solutions to clinical problems. Indeed, the chance to work at Harvard would be hugely beneficial in developing direct links to clinicians at one of the world’s most prestigious Universities. Fields of science medical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgerymedical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologytissue engineeringmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineorthopaedicsengineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsengineering and technologymaterials engineeringnanocomposites Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) Coordinator ATHLONE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY EU contribution € 371 166,70 Address DUBLIN ROAD ATHLONE Ireland See on map Region Ireland Eastern and Midland Midland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Higginbotham Clement (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
