Institute of Advanced Studies

Advanced Materials for Biomedical Applications in Human Health: Scientific, Technical, and Bioethical Issues

An IAS Masterclass with Professor Federico Rosei, 2009 Gledden Senior Visiting Fellow, UWA and Professor Eric M. Meslin, 2009 Institute of Advanced Studies, Professor-at-Large, UWA.

This Masterclass will explore the scientific, technical and bioethical issues arising in this new area of science. 

Advanced Materials are widely used for biomedical applications, yet great challenges lie ahead for harnessing the true potential of their functionality to improve human health.
Promising and growing areas of application include (but are not limited to) implantable biomaterials, tissue engineering and drug delivery. The human body is an intricate biochemical-biomechanical system, with an exceedingly precise hierarchical organization in which all components work together in harmony across a wide range of spatial dimensions (e.g. from proteins which are a few nanometers in size, to cells which can be several microns in size). Many fundamental biological processes take place at surfaces and interfaces and these typically occur on the microscale and more frequently on the nanoscale.

Current health-related research is actively following a biomimetic approach in learning how to create new biocompatible materials (i.e. materials that can be incorporated and accepted by the body, usually to replace a bodily function which is impaired due to age or disease) with suitable nanostructured features so as to optimize functionality. The ultimate aim is to reproduce and enhance the natural nanoscale elements present in the human body and to thereby develop new materials with improved biological activities.
 
In addition to the technical and scientific challenges, many bioethical and policy obstacles may need to be overcome to move from the bench to the bedside. None of the current ethics and policy paradigms – e.g., organ and tissue transplantation, research involving human subjects, collection and use of biological materials – easily accommodate or comprehensively apply to the case of research involving advanced materials. What would informed consent look like? What are the risks and benefits? What international standards exist? Nor do we have anything resembling public consensus on how to proceed.

Progress in the area of advanced biomaterials therefore requires a multidisciplinary effort at the interface of biology, physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, bioethics and policy.

Enrolment is limited to allow for a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Early registration is advised.