2D materials (2D-M) including graphene based materials (GBM) are being developed for a wide range of applications, such as composite for aerospace, automotive and building materials, or for biosensing and healthcare, or water purification. The global graphene market could be worth > $250 million by 2020. The safety profile of 2D-M and GBM must therefore be thoroughly known to inform risk management. Yet, the knowledge for GBM and 2D-M potential health hazard remains limited and disparate, despite significant progresses in recent years. Lately, there have also been raising concerns about how air pollution particulate matter may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Some papers have even suggested that the smallest particles composing air pollution, including nanomaterials, may be responsible for the reported effects. These led us to question whether 2D-M should also be cause for concerns in relation to neurodegeneration.
The project will focus on a panel of 2D-M which are likely to be used in a form where pulmonary exposure may occur during production or processing of the end-products, such as master batch preparation, inkjet 2D/3D printing, or large surface spraying. Using a panel of 2D-M differing in chemical composition (graphene, graphene oxide, hBN), surface properties (chemical functionalisation, amount of oxygen groups), lateral dimensions (>10 um to <100 nm), and thickness, the student will be able to identify key parameters of safety via investigation of specific biological endpoints and the cellular uptake. 2D-M identified as hazardous will be further tested in animals (rodents), using pulmonary exposure. If an impact on healthy brains is confirmed, an AD model will be used to test whether exposure to these 2D-M are slowing down or speeding up the progression of the disease. State of the art methodologies and brain cell models will be used. Our optimised/validated imaging and characterisation techniques (including Raman spectroscopic imaging, high-end confocal fluorescence imaging using the autofluorescence of graphene oxide, and high-end electron microscopy) will be used to confirm presence and fate of materials directly in harvested cells and animal tissues. While our endpoints will primarily focus on the impact of 2D-M on the brain, we will also harvest tissues that are likely to be exposed after pulmonary exposure, namely the lungs, heart, spleen and liver.
Atta obtained his BSc (Hons) in Physiology in 2015 from Manchester Metropolitan University. Originally with a keen interest in sports science and muscle physiology, Atta developed a research study investigating the effects of resistance training and performance enhancement in competitive strength athletes. After working in the NHS as a clinical researcher, Atta returned to Manchester Metropolitan University in 2017 completing his MSc in Biomedical Science. Involved in two research projects; Interpretations and limitations of clinical EMG in chronic motor disorders and neurodegenerative disease, and his dissertation under Professor Hans Degens and Dr. Llwyd Orton, studying the physiological, morphological and neurological development of A30P transgenic mice and their viability as a disease model of α-Synuclein dysfunction in familial forms of Parkinson’s disease.
In April 2019, Atta joined the nanomedicine lab under Dr. Cyrill Bussy, being offered a 4 year PhD studentship funded by the EPSRC & Loyd’s Register Foundation upon successful completion of the NOWNANO Doctoral Training Programme (2018 cohort). He is investigating the effects, mechanisms and interactions of 2D materials within the central nervous system. Focused towards neurotoxicity and environmental safety involving exposure through the olfactory pathway, and an interest in the therapeutic potential of nanomaterials in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
After completion of an internship at the Pasteur Institute, Rabies Virus Unit, in Paris, Cyrill graduated from the University Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, with a MSc degree in Cell & Molecular Biology (specialised in Microbiology, Parasitology-Virology). The following year he obtained a MRes degree in Biomedical Engineering (Biomaterials and Tissue engineering) from the University of Technology, Compiègne (UTC), France, working in close collaboration with the Technology Transfer Centre in Le Mans. He then pursued a PhD in Toxicology at the Radio-Toxicology Laboratory, French National Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), Fontenay-aux roses, France. This work was co-funded by the French Union Chamber of Mineral Waters (including Danone Group, Nestle Waters France, Neptune).
Returning to the University of Technology, Compiègne, Biomaterials Group, he started his postdoctoral training with a project investigating the biocompatibility of innovative pectin-based nanocoatings for implants and prosthesis. This industrial application-driven project was funded by the European Commission FP6 Pecticoat project (Nanobiotechnology for the coating of medical devices). He then moved to the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) at the Faculty of Medicine Mondor-Créteil, France. There, he evaluated how the physico-chemical properties of carbon nanotubes may influence their biological impacts on pulmonary macrophages, in the context of occupational exposure. Half of this work was performed at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (affiliated to CNRS), University of Paris Saclay, and also in collaboration with the CEA (IRAMIS, NIMBE Department), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ID21 group) and the chemicals and advanced materials specialist group Arkema. This work was funded by the French National Research Agency and the Nanosciences Cluster of the Ile-de-France region.
In 2010, he relocated to the UK and joined the Nanomedicine Lab, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, as a visiting post-doctoral scientist and was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie career development Fellowship by the European Commission (FP7) in 2011 to assess the pros and cons of using carbon nanotubes for nanomedicine in the brain. Upon completion of the Marie Curie project, he joined the University of Manchester as a Lecturer in Nanosafety.
Kostas read Chemistry at the University of Leeds and obtained his Diploma in Chemical Engineering and PhD from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, studying the steric stabilization of liposomes using block copolymer molecules. He carried out his postdoctoral training in various medical institutions in the United States and has worked closely with Professors Th.F. Tadros (ICI plc, UK), P.F. Luckham (Imperial College London), D. Papahadjopoulos (UCSF, USA), G. Sgouros (Memorial Sloan-Kettering, NY, USA) and R.G. Crystal (Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NY, USA). Following his promotion to Assistant Professor of Genetic Medicine and Chemical Engineering in Medicine at Cornell University Weill Medical College, he relocated to the UK as the Deputy Director of Imperial College Genetic Therapies Centre in 2002. In 2003 Kostas joined the Centre for Drug Delivery Research and the Department of Pharmaceutics at the UCL School of Pharmacy as the Deputy Head of the Centre. He was promoted to the Personal Chair of Nanomedicine and Head of the Centre in 2007. Kostas joined the University of Manchester in 2013 and is an Honorary Professor of University College London.
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