Dr Helena Azevedo
MEng, PhD
Research Funding
On this page:
Current Funded Research Projects
Newton Mobility Grant-Prof B Garipcan: Directing fibre orientation in self-assembling peptide/polymer hydrogels via thermal manipulationFunding source: Royal SocietyStart: 14-12-2020 / End: 13-12-2021 Amount: £3,000 |
Light4Sight - Light-activated carriers for the controlled delivery of therapeutic peptides in posterior segment eye diseasesFunding source: EU Commission - Horizon 2020Start: 01-11-2019 / End: 31-10-2021 Amount: £179,947 The growth of the ophthalmic drug market is primarily driven by an increasing aged population suffering from age- and lifestyle-related diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, among others. These diseases cause moderate or complete vision loss, resulting in significant reduction in quality of life. Consequently, innovative approaches for the effective delivery of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of chronic intraocular diseases are required. Currently, intravitreal injection of drugs is the most acceptable and effective method to treat vitreoretinal diseases. By placing the drug in the posterior eye, it evades the ocular barriers common in topical and systemic delivery, allowing higher drug doses to reach the target site. However, treatments require frequent injections to maintain adequate intraocular concentration, which are invasive, increase the risk of adverse effects and pose significant treatment burden on patients and healthcare providers. Thus, alternative ways to deliver these drugs that require less frequent administration need to be developed. Light4Sight aims to develop a novel delivery platform consisting of self-assembling nanocarriers incorporating therapeutic peptides and suspended within a light-sensitive supramolecular hydrogel. The hydrogel can be injected in the vitreous and release of nanocarriers be activated through the irradiation of visible light. This approach provides several benefits: 1) minimizes the use of repeated injections reducing treatment burden; 2) reduces burst release of the nanocarriers avoiding potential dose related toxicity; 3) on-demand release to match patient needs; 4) allows high drug loading for longterm therapy; 5) protects peptide drugs from rapid clearance in the vitreous increasing their half-life. |
Novel capsule based smell test for the assessment of hyposmia/anosmiaFunding source: EPSRC IAA & STFC IAAStart: 01-12-2020 / End: 31-05-2021 Amount: £9,000 This project is to develop a cheap, scalable and rapid smell test for the assessment of hyposmia/anosmia including COVID19 related symptom in humans. The prototype test consists of a standardized number of aromatic oils capsules fabricated by coaxial dripping and placed between adhesive strips that users crush and pull apart to release the smell. |
Previous Funded Research Projects
Funding source: Wellcome Trust |
Fabrication of aligned nanofibrous gels through a vitrification processFunding source: Royal SocietyStart: 31-03-2018 / End: 30-03-2019 This project will apply simple methods, self-assembly and vitrification, to fabricate nanofibrous hydrogels with controlled nanofibre alignment able to recreate the corneal stroma nano/microarchitectural organization. |
Funding source: Royal Academy of Engineering |
Funding source: British Council |
Funding source: Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (FP7)/European Union |
Funding source: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, HORIZON 2020, European Union |
Funding source: Marie Curie Actions (FP7)/European Union |
Funding source: Wellcome Trust |
Novel Bioactive Self-Assembling Peptide SystemsFunding source: Oral and Dental Research TrustStart: 01-11-2015 / End: 30-04-2016 |
Funding source: WHRI ACADEMY Marie Curie cofund/ European Union |
Other Research Projects
Peptide Self-assemblyHaving the flexibility of using 20 chemically different amino acids, peptides are versatile assembly components due to the intrinsic functional diversity of amino acids. In addition, a number of very important physiological and biochemical functions of life are influenced by peptides. For example, peptides are involved in… |
Macromolecular Self-assemblyMacromolecules are compounds with high molecular mass which structure comprise the multiple repetition of units derived from molecules of low relative molecular mass. Examples of macromolecules are biopolymers (nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates) and synthetic polymers. The chemical and structural diversity of macromolecules… |
Directed Self-assemblyDirected self-assembly (DSA) is a strategy to control order in materials across scales by tuning the directionally of self-assembly interactions at the nanoscale. In DSA the positions of self-assembling building blocks are guided by an external input to lead to specific orientation or alignment, introducing hierarchical organization. Examples of external ... |
Directed Molecular Self-Assembly into Dynamic Hierarchical BiomaterialsThis project aims at designing and utilizing peptide self-assembly to guide the hierarchical assembly of proteins and biopolymers at the molecular, nano, micro, and macroscale into functional materials and devices. Our objective is to use this hybrid strategy to enable materials that exhibit dynamic behaviour, improved mechanical properties, self-healing properties, ... |
Bioactive and Biomimetic Membranes for Tissue EngineeringThe project aims to develop structural and functional building blocks to create robust membranes that are tuneable and can orchestrate signalling of biological processes for a variety of tissue engineering applications such as bone, cardiac tissue, or abdominal wall. The development of the membranes takes advantage of the combination of ... |