Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding Awarded to Marc Fernandez to Develop His PhD Work Into

Funding has been approved by Enterprise Ireland to Marc Fernandez to further develop his PhD research at the Biggs Lab into a synthetic fibrous scaffold for the promotion of tendon repair. Over 32 million musculoskeletal injuries occur each year worldwide. In particular, complete tears of the rotator cuff tendon is the leading cause of shoulder-related disability and one of the most significant clinical challenges (20 to 90 % repair failure rates). Despite the fact that repaired tendons using synthetic scaffolds have presented the best clinical outcomes, their poor biological integration limits their clinical adoption and tissue grafts are the preferred option for tendon repair. The technology being developed by Marc is specifically designed to address the biological, mechanical and adhesions issues in rotator cuff tendon repair. and is built on the use of electrospinning to generate a highly structured and porous scaffold made from an inert synthetic polymer.