Directing biological behaviour through surface engineering

Dr Paul Roach has recently been appointed as Senior Lecturer in Biomaterials and Interface Science at Loughborough University in the Department of Chemistry, School of Science. His research interests build upon his interdisciplinary background spanning synthetic organic chemistry, materials science, experimental physics and instrumentation, and biological response to surface cues. In 2005 he received a Ph.D. in Chemistry for his investigation of protein-surface interactions, providing new challenges in materials chemistry and biological sensing. Dr Roach was then appointed as a research fellow in the physics team at Nottingham Trent University to design and fabricate "Next Generation Love Waves". In 2008 Dr Roach broadened his understanding within the biological discipline, taking an MRC funded postdoctoral research position at the University of Nottingham, working between the Schools of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. In 2009 Dr Roach was appointed as lecturer at Keele University, where he developed microfabrication laboratories for the manufacture of in vitro brain circuit models. Dr Roach sits on the steering group for the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) for Regenerative Medicine (Loughborough-Nottingham-Keele), having previously held the position of Deputy Director and Operations Manager for Keele. He is on the council for the UK Society for Biomaterial and on the Executive Committee for the Royal Society for Chemistry Biomaterials Chemistry Group. Serving as an EPSRC college member, he was also selected to be part of the EPSRC Early Career Manufacturing Forum. He holds visiting academic and adjunct associate professor positions at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Science, Germany and the Donders Institute for Brain and Cognition, Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Abstract
Biological activity at a material’s interface is dictated by the ability of the surface to support the adsorption of proteinatious materials, which later mediate the attachment, proliferation and differentiation of cells. Nanoscale topography impacts synergistically with surface chemistry on amount of adsorbed protein, its conformation and orientation; later impacting on adhering cells. Micro-scale features can be used to dictate the directional guidance of cells, particularly important for e.g. engineering neural tissue. Surface engineering therefore plays a major part in the advancement of material function; the aim within the biological sciences is the production of designer materials that specifically control biological responses. Work will be presented surrounding the use of surface chemistry and nano-/ micro-scale features to control the dynamic protein layer and subsequent cell responses. A focus will be given to the use of microfabrication methods for the development of in vitro complex neural cell circuitry models, with a focus on cellular/ tissue architecture and function. The use of surface chemical effects to guide neural stem cell differentiation will also be presented.