The first three months of 2022 have been very successful for our Centre.

• First of all, the CRMD’s collective effort led to the achievement of the largest individual grant ever obtained by the University of Brighton. CRMD was recognised by the UKRI EPSRC Investigator-led Award with a 6-years project on theranostic wound dressings valued >£3.5M (EPSRC contribution £2.88M). In their assessment, four reviewers acknowledged the quality of our CRMD branding it as a world-leading centre. The project will be led by the CRMD Director Prof Matteo Santin and include as Co-Investigators Dr Giselda Bucca, Prof Cyril Crua, Mrs Rachel Forss, Dr Paul Harris, Dr Andrew Hesket, Dr Laila Kudsiova, Prof Marco Marengo, Dr Simon Otter, Dr Dipak Sarker, Dr Susan Sandeman, Dr Nadia Terrazzini.

Prof Santin was interviewed live by the BBC Sussex Radio and the achievement disseminated through the University’s website and social media.

• Prof Santin also achieved another research grant (>£23k) from the Orthopaedic Research UK led by Dr Kenneth Rankin, orthopaedic surgeon at Newcastle University for a project entitled ‘Investigation of a Novel Gadolinium Conjugated Peptide as a Theranostic for Primary and Secondary Bone Cancers’.
• Three peer-reviewed papers have already been published:

Forss.J.R (2022) Does exudate viscosity affect its rate of absorption into wound dressings? Journal of Wound Care. Vol 31. No 3. pg 48 – 54

Perugini et al (2022) A multistep in vitro hemocompatibility testing protocol recapitulating the foreign body reaction to nanocarriers. Drug Delivery and Translational Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s13346-022-01141-6 Open Access

Perugini et al (2022) Development of Scaffold-free Vascularized Pancreatic -Islets In Vitro Models by the Anchoring of Cell Lines to Gelatine Substrates Modified by Basement Membrane-mimicking Peptides. J Mat Sci Mat Med. Open Access In press

• A warm welcome to two new members of our Centre:

Prof Itamar Ronen, the new Director of the BSMS CISC who will bring his expertise in clinical imaging

Prof Rameen Shakur, School of Applied Sciences, Lead of the Brighton Genomics Unit whose research interest merges ‘omics’ with regenerative medicine.

• We wish well to two of our colleagues who have left our University at the end of February and March.
  • Dr Valeria Perugini, research fellow at the University of Brighton since 2009, achieved a senior scientist position at a spin out company of GSK.
  • Dr Cheryl Collins, research officer at the University of Brighton since 2018, ended her contract with the University at the end of March

We wish Cheryl and Valeria all the best for their future.

• Finally, the CRMD Management Board held two meetings in the last two months to plan the activities for the rest of this calendar year and glad to announce the in-person CRMD Away Day on 23 May 2022. Thanks to the work of Ms Suzanne Armsden the meeting will be held in a very nice venue in Lewes at https://www.railwaylandproject.org/meeting-rooms. The catering will be delivered via Lunch Positive (local AIDS charity). The agenda will soon be circulated and we look forward to seeing all members and associate members joining this event.

On behalf of the Management Board

Prof Matteo Santin, Director