Controlling bacterial biofilm formation with shape  

Project description

Man-made materials play a major role in healthcare including extensive use as implants, which have an unfortunately significant rates of infection. The rise of antimicrobial resistance makes this problem pressing, in that the infections arising are often untreatable by antibiotics and therefore often fatal. Modification of the surface texture or topography has been found to control bacterial surface colonisation-we do not know why. This project will access a near infinite range of shapes formed at planar surfaces using 2 photon printing of polymers from a range of monomers. Through mining if this data, we aim to build a better understanding of the relationship between bacterial colonisation and shape that will enable better materials to be designed from first principles for use in healthcare. The student will develop and apply ideas and techniques from a variety of areas, including statistical shape analysis and machine learning, to address the questions of interest.

This project will be jointly supervised by Prof Morgan Alexander in the School of Pharmacy and Prof Ricky Wildman in the Faculty of Engineering.