Dr Keng Wooi Ng @ Newcastle University
A year ago, we reported on our burn-detecting composite microneedle biosensor via the green open-access route:
Skaria E, Patel BA, Flint MS, Ng KW (2019) Poly(lactic) acid/carbon nanotube composite microneedle arrays for dermal biosensing. Analytical Chemistry 91(7):4436-4443. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b04980
Today, the embargo on the author manuscript lifted, thus we are delighted to share it with the world:
This week, we achieved a major milestone in our research capabilties. We established a skin bank to ensure a steady supply of skin samples for our research. At present, the skin bank contains porcine and murine skin samples. We may expand this to include other skin samples in the future.
The team was understandably thrilled when we received our first skin donations to the skin bank. Hassan, Rach and Trevor all had a go at processing the skin samples for storage. These skin samples will be put to good use in the coming weeks and months.
Here’s Rach, the self-proclaimed pig barber at work:
Just as we were about to wind down our lab operations for Christmas, we welcomed postdoctoral research associate, Dr Hassan Elsana, into our team this week. Hassan will be working on an EPSRC-funded project researching microneedle-mediated drug delivery in the skin.
This project is a collaboration with Dr Wing Man Lau (School of Pharmacy) and Dr Katarina Novakovic (School of Engineering). We have high hopes for this project.
Exciting times ahead, and I don’t just mean Christmas!
This week, I welcome 4 new team members into the team:
Cerys Evans is an MPharm student who will be investigating microneedle coating strategies for dermal drug delivery over the next 10 weeks.
Rachael Dixon joins us to develop a novel skin health monitor, in a joint effort between the School of Pharmacy and the Institute of Cellular Medicine. Professor Syed Moein Moghimi, Professor Mark Birch-Machin and Dr Philip Manning are co-supervisors.
Grace Young starts her PhD research formulating an antimicrobial delivery strategy to combat biofilms. The project, led by Dr Wing Man Lau and co-supervised by Dr Nick Jakubovics and myself, is a collaboration between the School of Pharmacy and the School of Dental Sciences.
Georgia Peavoy joins us to develop a novel diagnostic device for detecting nerve damage in diabetic patients. This is a collaborative project with Dr Roger Whittaker (lead supervisor, Institute of Neuroscience) and Professor Anthony O’Neil (School of Engineering).
I hope they enjoy their time with us and have a productive research project in the months and years ahead.
If you have been keeping up with my tweets, you may have noticed that we were at the 10th APS International PharmSci conference last week in Greenwich, UK.
We presented our collaborative work with Unversity of Surrey’s BioProChem group on our recently published work on microneedle immunodiagnostics, as well as our investigation into the effects of oxygen and pressure on wound healing with Dr Wing Man Lau, Professor Adrian Williams and Dr Kawa Ahmad.
Our MPharm alumni have much to be proud of too. Joanna’s work on microneedle hydrogel coating was presented as a poster, while Arun’s work on a dual-analysis immunodiagnostic microneedle platform for skin cancer detection was presented as part of a podium presentation.
Finally here @APS_PharmSci #PharmSci2019, looking forward to sharing our research. Check out our posters PW40, PW65 and PW69.
— Keng Wooi Ng (@ngkengwooi) September 11, 2019
I spoke on day 2 of the conference.
I’ll also be speaking in session S2.2C about our work developing #microneedles for skin cancer detection. @APS_PharmSci #PharmSci2019 pic.twitter.com/OucESKsceD
— Keng Wooi Ng (@ngkengwooi) 11 September 2019
Interesting work on microneedle diagnostics presented by @ngkengwooi. A nice, highly-practical, approach to overcoming clinical problems. #PharmSci2019 pic.twitter.com/ZObPEcSuDB
— Ryan Donnelly (@ryanfdonnelly) September 12, 2019
All in all it was a fun and extremely fruitful conference. We look forward to the 11th iteration of the conference in Belfast next year!
Update: Author manuscript available
One of the challenges in developing microneedle devices to capture disease biomarkers from the skin is the lack of suitable skin specimens in which to test the devices. Donor skin specimens that carry the specific target diseases simply do not come by easily.
I first discussed this challenge with Eirini Velliou, Tao Chen and Guoping Lian in April 2016. We decided to tackle it by growing our own model of diseased skin in the lab. Experimental work started shortly after, and continued to develop following my relocation to Newcastle University in 2017. Earlier this week, we described the collaborative work in a joint publication in the journal Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.
We took a grounds-up approach by growing melanoma skin cancer cells in a three-dimensional (3D) culture, supported structurally by a biocompatible polymer scaffold. This allowed us to simulate not only the biological microenvironment around the cells, but also the three-dimensional structure of the skin for microneedle insertion. Importantly, it was a simple and inexpensive, yet versatile, laboratory model to set up.
In pioneering the 3D cell culture model for evaluating microneedle devices against a skin cancer biomarker, we also demonstrated – for the first time – successful capture of S100B (a biomarker for melanoma skin cancer) in situ using our immunodiagnostic microneedle device.
Stella Totti, formerly a PhD student and now a postdoctoral researcher in Eirini’s research group, is the first author. I am especially pleased that hard work has paid off for Lorraine Dale, a former MSc student of mine, who contributed greatly to this work and is a co-author on this paper.
The paper is free to read until 28 July 2019 via this link: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1ZBcy3IQMPEdJi
An EPSRC-funded PhD studentship is now open for application. The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team to develop a microneedle device to assess nerve function in diabetes.
The project will be led by Dr Roger Whittaker (Institute of Neuroscience), and co-supervised by Professor Anthony O’Neill (School of Engineering) and myself (School of Pharmacy).
Closing date: 5 June 2019.
Full details here.
We are now accepting applications for a funded PhD studentship in rapid disease diagnosis.
If you have read about our microneedle technology, and think that it is an area of research you would like to engage in and gain a PhD in the process, then please see the link below for eligibility and how to apply:
We have developed a microneedle array biosensor that can detect skin burns. To make the biosensor, we devised a nanocomposite material from carbon nanotubes and a biocompatible polymer, poly(lactic acid). We then shaped the microneedle array from the nanocomposite material. The microneedles that formed were about 870 μm long, 250 μm wide, and electroactive. This meant that the microneedle array could be inserted into the skin to detect certain analytes by electrochemistry. We verified this by using the microneedle array to detect vitamin C in solution. Interestingly, when we tested the microneedle array biosensor on skin burns and normal (non-burnt) skin, the skin specimens showed different electrochemical responses. This gives us the technological basis for a minimally invasive biosensing approach to detecting skin burns.
For more information, please see:
Skaria E, et al. (2019) Poly(lactic) acid/carbon nanotube composite microneedle arrays for dermal biosensing. Analytical Chemistry (epub ahead of print). doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b04980
There are currently a couple of PhD studentships available within the pharmaceutics team at the School of Pharmacy, Newcastle University. Please click through the following links to find out more:
Please help spread the word.
Thanks!