The pioneering work of Professor Kevin Shakesheff in the regeneration of human tissues is being recognised by the UK Society of Biomaterials.
Kevin Shakesheff, Professor of Advanced Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering in the School of Pharmacy at The University of Nottingham, will receive the Biocompatibles Endowed Award this week for his work on materials that promote tissue repair and stem cell differentiation.
The Biocompatibles Endowed Award was established by Professor Dennis Chapman, through a generous endowment from Biocompatibles Ltd — the medical technology company Professor Chapman founded. The award recognises a significant contribution to biomaterials science with particular emphasis on the clinical and/or industrial application of the recipients work.
Professor Shakesheff's work focuses on the ability of stem cells to spontaneously form functional human tissue. He uses materials science to create templates for the stem cells to form bone, heart, nerve tissue in the laboratory. With clinical collaborations in the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham he is developing these templates as new biomaterials that promote bone repair in hard-to-heal patients.
The inventions developed from Professor Shakesheff's laboratory have led to the formation of two Nottingham based spin-out companies. Working with Professor Steve Howdle in the School of Chemistry he was a co-founder of Critical Pharmaceutical Limited. In 1998, his other company RegenTec Ltd was winner of the Medical Future Prize for Innovation in Orthopaedics.
Professor Shakesheff said: "The Award recognises 15 years of work and the efforts of many collaborators to create new classes of materials. The key to success has been to form interdisciplinary teams that can work together over long timescales to solve very difficult problems."