The Biggs Lab at the University of Galway
Welcome to the Biggs Lab Homepage. The Biggs group conducts multi-disciplinary bioengineering research at the National University of Ireland, Galway to develop biomaterials focused solutions to medical device design with a focus on the nanofabrication of electrically active and responsive biomaterials.
BIGGS LAB NEWS
Alex New Paper in Advanced Materials Generates Media Interest!
Alex Trotters' Ph.D work has been published in Advanced Science. This latest paper has generated significant media interest with coverage appearing in the University News, Silicon Republic and was discussed in a radio interview by Dr Biggs one RTE 1 and on NewTalk Radio
New Paper by Katia Krukiewicz Published in ACS Applied Material Interfaces
In this study, we describe an electrochemically modified, nanostructured indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (ITO/PET) surface as a flexible, transparent, and cytocompatible electrode material. Electrochemical oxidation and reduction of ITO/PET electrodes in the presence of an ionic liquid based on d-glucopyranoside and bistriflamide units were performed, and the electrochemical behavior, conductivity, capacitance, charge transport processes, surface morphology, optical properties, and cytocompatibility were assessed in vitro. It has been shown that under selected conditions, electrochemically modified ITO/PET films remained transparent and highly conductive and were able to enhance neural cell survival and neurite outgrowth. Consequently, electrochemical modification of ITO/PET electrodes in the presence of an ionic liquid is introduced as an effective approach for tailoring the properties of ITO for advanced bio-optoelectronic applications.
New Paper Led by Alex Trotter on the Role Of Mechanically Activated Ion Channels in Peri-Electrode Gliosis Published in Advanced Science
Dr Marc Fernandez Awarded European Doctorate Award for Research Achievements
Dr. Mark Fernandez, has been awarded the Julia Polak European Doctorate Award 2021 of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) to be presented at the General Assembly of the next ESB conference to be held from 5-9 September 2021 in Porto. Candidates nominated for the award needed to demonstrate that they have received high standard research education and training at a European level in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and that they are also able to produce scientific results deserving recognition by being published and accepted in high-quality journals and conferences. Dr Manus Biggs supervised Dr Fernandez's doctoral research that focussed on developing a synthetic fibrous scaffold to promote tendon repair. The technology developed was specifically designed to address the biological, mechanical and adhesions issues in rotator cuff tendon repair and used electrospinning to generate a highly structured and porous scaffold made from an inert synthetic polymer.