Project acronym JointPrinting
Project 3D Printing of Cell Laden Biomimetic Materials and Biomolecules for Joint Regeneration
Researcher (PI) Daniel John Kelly
Host Institution (HI) THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Country Ireland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary Osteoarthritis (OA) is a serious disease of the joints affecting nearly 10% of the population worldwide. Realising an efficacious therapeutic solution for treating OA remains one of the greatest challenges in the field of orthopaedic medicine. This proposal envisions a future where 3D bioprinting systems located in hospitals will provide ‘off-the-shelf’, patient-specific biological implants to treat diseases such as OA. To realise this vision, this project will use 3D bioprinting to generate anatomically accurate, biomimetic constructs that can be used to regenerate both the cartilage and bone in a diseased joint. The first aim of this proposal is to print a mesenchymal stem cell laden biomaterial that is both immediately load bearing and can facilitate the regeneration of articular cartilage in vivo, such that the bioprinted construct will not require in vitro maturation prior to implantation. Mechanical function will be realised by integrating an interpenetrating network hydrogel into a 3D printed polymeric scaffold, while chondro-inductivity will be enhanced by the spatially-defined incorporation of cartilage extracellular matrix components and chondrogenic growth factors into the bioprinted construct. The second aim of the proposal is to use 3D bioprinting to create a cell-free, composite construct to facilitate regeneration of the bony region of a large osteochondral defect, where vascularization will be accelerated by immobilizing spatial gradients of vascular endothelial growth factor into the implant. The third aim of the proposal is to scale-up the proposed 3D bioprinted construct to enable whole joint regeneration. Finite element modelling will be used determine the optimal structural characteristics of the scaled-up implant for it to fulfil its required mechanical function. If successful, such an implant would form the basis of a truly transformative therapy for treating degenerative joint disease.
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a serious disease of the joints affecting nearly 10% of the population worldwide. Realising an efficacious therapeutic solution for treating OA remains one of the greatest challenges in the field of orthopaedic medicine. This proposal envisions a future where 3D bioprinting systems located in hospitals will provide ‘off-the-shelf’, patient-specific biological implants to treat diseases such as OA. To realise this vision, this project will use 3D bioprinting to generate anatomically accurate, biomimetic constructs that can be used to regenerate both the cartilage and bone in a diseased joint. The first aim of this proposal is to print a mesenchymal stem cell laden biomaterial that is both immediately load bearing and can facilitate the regeneration of articular cartilage in vivo, such that the bioprinted construct will not require in vitro maturation prior to implantation. Mechanical function will be realised by integrating an interpenetrating network hydrogel into a 3D printed polymeric scaffold, while chondro-inductivity will be enhanced by the spatially-defined incorporation of cartilage extracellular matrix components and chondrogenic growth factors into the bioprinted construct. The second aim of the proposal is to use 3D bioprinting to create a cell-free, composite construct to facilitate regeneration of the bony region of a large osteochondral defect, where vascularization will be accelerated by immobilizing spatial gradients of vascular endothelial growth factor into the implant. The third aim of the proposal is to scale-up the proposed 3D bioprinted construct to enable whole joint regeneration. Finite element modelling will be used determine the optimal structural characteristics of the scaled-up implant for it to fulfil its required mechanical function. If successful, such an implant would form the basis of a truly transformative therapy for treating degenerative joint disease.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 700 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-08-31
Project acronym SHARECITY
Project SHARECITY: Assessing the practice and sustainability potential of city-based food sharing economies
Researcher (PI) Anna Ray Davies
Host Institution (HI) THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Country Ireland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH3, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary With planetary urbanization fast approaching there is growing clarity regarding the unsustainability of cities, not least with respect to food consumption. Sharing, including food sharing, is increasingly being identified as one transformative mechanism for sustainable cities: reducing consumption; conserving resources, preventing waste and providing new forms of socio-economic relations. However, such claims currently rest on thin conceptual and empirical foundations. SHARECITY will identify and examine diverse practices of city-based food sharing economies, first determining their form, function and governance and then identifying their impact and potential to reorient eating practices. The research has four objectives: to advance theoretical understanding of contemporary food sharing economies in cities; to generate a significant body of comparative and novel international empirical knowledge about food sharing economies and their governance within global cities; to design and test an assessment framework for establishing the impact of city-based food sharing economies on societal relations, economic vitality and the environment; and to develop and implement a novel variant of backcasting to explore how food sharing economies within cities might evolve in the future. Providing conceptual insights that bridge sharing, social practice and urban transitions theories, SHARECITY will generate a typology of food sharing economies; a database of food sharing activities in 100 global cities; in-depth food sharing profiles of 7 cities from the contrasting contexts of USA, Brazil and Germany, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Australia; a sustainability impact toolkit to enable examination of city-based food sharing initiatives; and scenarios for future food sharing in cities. Conducting such frontier science SHARECITY will open new research horizons to substantively improve understanding of how, why and to what end people share food within cities in the 21st Century.
Summary
With planetary urbanization fast approaching there is growing clarity regarding the unsustainability of cities, not least with respect to food consumption. Sharing, including food sharing, is increasingly being identified as one transformative mechanism for sustainable cities: reducing consumption; conserving resources, preventing waste and providing new forms of socio-economic relations. However, such claims currently rest on thin conceptual and empirical foundations. SHARECITY will identify and examine diverse practices of city-based food sharing economies, first determining their form, function and governance and then identifying their impact and potential to reorient eating practices. The research has four objectives: to advance theoretical understanding of contemporary food sharing economies in cities; to generate a significant body of comparative and novel international empirical knowledge about food sharing economies and their governance within global cities; to design and test an assessment framework for establishing the impact of city-based food sharing economies on societal relations, economic vitality and the environment; and to develop and implement a novel variant of backcasting to explore how food sharing economies within cities might evolve in the future. Providing conceptual insights that bridge sharing, social practice and urban transitions theories, SHARECITY will generate a typology of food sharing economies; a database of food sharing activities in 100 global cities; in-depth food sharing profiles of 7 cities from the contrasting contexts of USA, Brazil and Germany, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Australia; a sustainability impact toolkit to enable examination of city-based food sharing initiatives; and scenarios for future food sharing in cities. Conducting such frontier science SHARECITY will open new research horizons to substantively improve understanding of how, why and to what end people share food within cities in the 21st Century.
Max ERC Funding
1 860 009 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2021-07-31
