Nanobiotechnology and Advanced Therapeutic Materials

A new direction of the Zernike Institute is devoted to the development of novel materials for biomedical applications. For that purpose we have joined forces with the W. J. Kolff Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science at the University Medical Center Groningen. This collaboration was initiated by Prof Herrmann (ZIAM) and Prof Busscher (Kolff) and is supported by two tenure-track assistant professors Crielaard (ZIAM) and van Rijn (Kolff), who have been recruited together with four PhD students to bridge the gap between fundamental materials and clinical applications in the area of antimicrobial surfaces and multifunctional drug carriers and imaging agents. First successes have already been realised, resulting in the first 3D printable antimicrobial polymer resins for the fabrication of safer medical devices, which was highlighted in the Dutch national press, or 3D printable antimicrobial teeth, which received quite a global echo, as you can read summarized in a university press release.