UCL Eastman Dental Institute

Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering

The activities of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering division are applicable to the identification and repair of oral and craniofacial complex defects, but also to other fields - as demonstrated by strong links with UCL Institute of Child Health, UCL Institute of Orthopaedics and other UCL Departments such as Chemistry, Medicine and Physics. Craniofacial/oral/dental tissue loss may be congenital (e.g. genetic) but is more commonly acquired (e.g. periodontitis, surgery).

Research concerns the effects of novel synthetic and natural biomaterials on in vitro cell systems in order to understand the fundamental phenotypic and functional responses of both soft and hard tissue cells to novel biomaterial compositions, and relating these to the in vivo or natural host environment. Such responses are often related to changes in the expression and function of certain extracellular matrix proteins, cell surface receptors and their corresponding genes. We can evaluate and quantify some of these differences using specialised techniques such as cell culture, cell adhesion/proliferation assays, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, gene array technology and live cell imaging.

Significant contributions to the scientific community by this division include advancing knowledge by publication of research findings in high impact journals, as respected research leaders and opinion makers, staff have also published reviews in prestigious journals (e.g. Biology of the Cell, Oral Oncology) and authored and edited several textbooks, generation and commercialisation of intellectual property in the form of 3 patent applications and two patent licensing agreements and intellectual property has also been successfully translated into clinical use as evidenced by the licensing out and current pursuit of CE marking b for BoneLike®, and consultancies with industry.

Research in the division is encompassed by four inter-related themes: