Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Materials Horizons were delighted to sponsor the poster prize awards at the 2025 Materials for Medical Devices workshop which took place at the University of Nottingham from 21-22 January 2025. Congratulations to our poster prize winners Antonis Stylianou and Qiran Du! Find out more about them below:
Antonis Stylianou, a PhD student at the University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy, is at the forefront of vaccine delivery innovation. Under the guidance of Dr. James E. Dixon, Dr. Maria Marlow, and Prof. Janet M. Daly, Antonis is developing mass-deployable, self-administered DNA vaccines using Microneedle Array Patches (MAPs).His research, supported by an EPSRC Industrial CASE studentship in collaboration with Nemaura Medical, aims to revolutionise global immunization strategies. The MAPs Antonis is developing consist of micro-projections under 1 mm in length, enabling painless self-administration of vaccines into the skin. This innovative approach has the potential to eliminate the need for cold-chain infrastructure and reduce dependence on healthcare professionals for vaccine administration. By addressing key challenges in MAP manufacturing and global vaccine accessibility, Antonis’s work represents a significant advancement in pandemic preparedness and vaccine technology. The impact of this research extends beyond technological innovation, with the potential to transform immunisation practices worldwide, particularly benefiting regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. Antonis won a prize for his poster entitled, ‘Mass deployable self-administered DNA vaccines by Microneedle Arrays’ |
Qiran Du is currently a PhD student in Immunology since 2021 and a Research Associate at the University of Nottingham, UK. Qiran studied a BSc in Pharmacy at Ocean University of China from 2013-2017 before studying an MSc in Pharmaceuticals at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China from 2017 – 2020. Qiran is fascinated by materials and their ability to modulate immune responses and how material controlled applications can be used in areas of wound healing and tissue regeneration to improve lives. Qiran won a prize for the poster entitled, ‘Elucidating the in vitro immune response to surgical meshes coated with immune-instructive polymer’
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