Ian Wark Research Institute
ARC Special Research Centre
ARC Special Research Centre
In
the Australian Research Council's latest funding announcements, Prof
Hans Griesser was awarded a Linkage Grant for a project titled
'Development and evaluation of novel antibacterial coatings'.
The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr Tim Kuchel
(IMVS), Dr Reto Luginbuehl (RMS Foundation) and Ms Jan Rodda (Mathys
Orthopaedics Australia). The partner organisation is Mathys Orthopaedics
Pty Limited.
The ARC Linkage grant is for a total of $200,000 over 2 years, with
funding commencing in July 2012. The ARC funding will be matched with
funds and in-kind support from industry partners.
Infections caused by bacterial biofilms adhering to biomedical implants
and devices cause considerable problems in human health care. This
project aims to develop a thin coating that can be applied to a wide
range of implants and devices to prevent such bacterial infections. This
special coating is based on novel antibacterial chemicals derived from
Australian plants.
This next phase of the research will test the coatings in the laboratory
on functioning implants to assess their effectiveness against bacterial
attachment and biofilm formation.
"We want to develop a robust chemical methodology for the coating of
biomedical devices and implants to protect them against bacterial
infections so that we can progress the technology to a stage when it is
safe to proceed to a human clinical study," Prof Griesser said.
"Our goal is to work with industry to develop implants and catheters
that can be used in the body with minimal risk of infection, saving
lives, post-surgical complications and saving dollars to the health
system."
