Scientists will use 3D printing to look at how cells involved in the healing of bones and skin sense and respond to the shape of their environment, thanks to funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences, which could reduce our reliance on drugs in the future.
The Academy of Medical Sciences has awarded £6.7 million to 55 early career researchers at 38 institutions across the UK, backing new research that can transform our understanding of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, infectious diseases and chronic pain, among other pressing health challenges.
Delivered through the Academy's flagship Springboard programme, the grants support curiosity-driven, discovery-stage research – the foundational science that underpins future treatments and interventions.
Dr Robert Owen, from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham, is one of the researchers to benefit from a grant.
He is exploring how tiny physical features, such as curves on a material's surface, influence the way cells behave, and how these shapes can be built into materials we use in healthcare to promote healing using additive manufacturing.
Using ultra-high-resolution 3D printing, the project will study how cells involved in bone healing and skin repair respond to these shapes, including how they move, change shape, and switch on different genes and metabolic pathways. The long-term aim is to use SHAPE itself as a kind of medicine, designing biomaterials that can guide healing through these structural cues, while minimising our reliance on added drugs or growth factors. In time, this could help create safer, more accessible, and more affordable materials for repairing tissues such as bone and skin.
"I am delighted to receive this Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Award, which will enable me to build on our research at Nottingham into how cells sense and respond to the shape of their environment. This project will help me advance the concept of SHAPE as Medicine, using cell-scale physical features to direct cell behaviour and guide healing. By bringing together Nottingham's strengths in advanced 3D printing, mechanobiology and analytical science, I hope this work will lay the foundations for a new way to design materials we implant into the body.
Professor James Naismith FRS FRSE FMedSci, Vice President (Non-Clinical) at the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: "The transition to research leadership is one of the most challenging stages in a research career, yet it is also when creativity is often at its strongest. Springboard invests in people at the moment when bold ideas begin to take shape, providing the freedom, confidence and backing researchers need to strike out on their own and ask big questions. The projects announced today show the impact this approach can have – demonstrating how early support can translate into meaningful benefits for patients, communities and the wider health system."
To tackle cruel diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and chronic pain, and ultimately save lives, we must help researchers to take their ambitious discovery-stage work to the next level. This support is backing researchers at a stage where attracting commercial investment can be a challenge and builds on the Government's record investment in research - unlocking more discoveries that benefit people across the UK and beyond.
