###Development and validation of low cost 3D human skin models
Project ID: 2228bd1117 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies
UCL Lead department: Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences
Lead Supervisor: Eirini Velliou
Project Summary:
Research importance: Testing of cosmetics on animals has been recently banned in the UK, Europe & USA. Consequently, there has been an increasing industrial interest in developing alternative methods to animal testing. However, despite the significant progress on the development of skin models, the latter do not fully recapitulate the human skin because (i) they do not fully mimic vascularisation diffusion and blood circulation and (ii) they lack of mechanical integrity. Most existing models are either mechanically complex of cellularly complex but the integration of cellular and mechanical/structural complexity is lacking. The aim of this work is to address this challenge via engineering and validation of a bio-inspired 3D full thickness human skin equivalent. More specifically, building on a preliminary prototype multicellular 3D skin model developed by the group of Dr Velliou on synthetic biomaterials, novel 3D skin models, with robust and tuneable structure and perfusion/flow will be fabricated. The evolution of multiple skin cell types (viability, spatial organisation, differentiation will be assessed with particular focus on cell-cell communication at the interface of various skin layers in response to mechanical topography and shear stress. Furthermore, diffusivity assays of cosmetic compounds will be performed to validate the structural integrity of the developed systems. Who you will be working with/what you will be doing: You will be joining the group of Dr Eirini Velliou (CBH/Bloomsbury). You will be also working closely with Prof Deepak Kalaskar (Royal Free). You will be working in a multidisciplinary environment, fabricating and characterising advanced biomaterials and conducting cell culturing along with advanced microscopy/imaging, molecular biology and material characterisation. Who we are looking for: We are looking for a highly motivated individual to join our team. Ideal candidate should have a background on bioengineering, biomaterials or related discipline.