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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template
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Use one form per project
Please complete & submit to international@nuigalway.ie as soon as possible, and by 27/11/2012
In your email, begin the subject line with [SWB] (be sure to use square brackets) to ensure that
your email is filed correctly. Emails will be automatically filed
PI name & contact details:
Dr Wenxin Wang
Tel.: 00353 91 493131 (Office)
Email: wenxin.wang@nuigalway.ie
School:
Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration school?
Research Centre / group affiliation:
Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials
Research group / centre website:
http://www.nfb.ie
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.wenxinwang.ie
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
If you are already involved in relevant scholarly activities relating to Brazil, please mention them here.
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Functional dendritic polymers as multifunctional carriers for targeted therapeutic drugs
(proteins and peptides)
Development of new DNA plasmid vectors for Gene Therapy (DNA/RNA delivery)
Bio-inspired responsive dressing/adhesive for wound healing
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Advanced biomaterials- based dressings containing stem cells for the treatment of diabetic foot
ulcers
Recent years have seen significant progress in the development of tissue engineered skin
substitutes as effective cell therapy models for wound healing. However, most of these skin
substitutes are hardly applicable for mass production due to their complicated manufacturing
processes and high costs. In this PhD project, we aim to develop a mimic cellular scaffold mixing
the polymer with components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and adipose-derived stem cells
(ADSCs). We hypothesise that we can manufacture an advanced biomaterials- based system that
can quickly form a gel in situ at body temperature and that the mimic microenvironment can be
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
optimized to support the growth and renewal of ADSCs while retain the full pluripotency and
maximum secretion capacity of the cells for the optimal treatment of chronical wounds e.g.
diabetic Ulcer.
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
NUI Galway projects should emphasise features that are not typically available in Brazil – specific equipment,
multi-disciplinarity, aspects of structured programme, links with industry, placements, links with other research
groups etc.
Dr. Wenxing Wang’s laboratory at the network for Excellence in Biomaterials offers a unique multi-disciplinary
learning experience to Phd students due to presence of polymer chemists, engineers, cell and molecular
biologists in an high level funded research environment that includes industrial contacts ranging from smallmedium sized enterprises to big pharmaceutical companies, modern laboratories with state of the art
equipment such as mass spectroscopy, flow cytometry, GMP facility as well as a wide range of university
services such as IT computer services and professional advice of commercialisation experts at the Technology
Transfer Office.
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Biomedical Engineering
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
Y
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Y
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Y
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): _ _Y___
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): _Y___
Suitable for either/Don’t know: _____