The first review meeting was recently held at Riddell Hall at QUB for our latest 3 year EPSRC funded project to investigate nitric oxide (NO) releasing polymers that will prevent thrombosis and infection in catheter devices. This project is led by University of St Andrews, and also includes experts from the University of the Highlands and Islands, The University of Edinburgh and 5D Health Protection Group and is a follow on from a highly successful project, also funded by EPSRC that focused on releasing NO from cardiovascular devices that was completed earlier this year.

Our role in this project is the production and testing of prototype devices using the production facilities in PPRC and supporting our PIs; Professor Gary Menary and Dr Alex Lennon in the development of a computational model to predict NO release via characterisation of the polymer compounds.

The ESPRC is one of the main funding bodies for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK and is part of UK Research and Innovation, a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.