This updatable book provides an accessible informative overview of the current state of the art in nerve repair research.
The introduction includes history of nerve repair research and establishes key concepts and terminology and will be followed by sections that represent the main areas of interest in the field: (1) Biomaterials, (2) Therapeutic Cells, (3) Drug, Gene and Extracellular Vesicle Therapies, (4) Research Models and (5) Clinical Translation. Each section will contain 3 – 6 chapters, capturing the full breadth of relevant technology. Bringing together diverse disciplines under one overarching theme echoes the multidisciplinary approach that underpins modern tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Each chapter will be written in an accessible manner that will facilitate interest and understanding, providing a comprehensive single reference source. The updatable nature of the work will ensure that it can evolve to accommodate future changes and new technologies.
The main readership for this work will be researchers and clinicians based in academic, industrial and healthcare settings all over the world.
Biomaterials.- Natural materials.- Synthetic materials.- Decellularised nerve grafts.- Cells.- Schwann cells.- Therapeutic cells for seeding in nerve repair guides.- Grafts containing live neurons.- Drugs, Gene Therapy and Extracellular Vesicles.- Drugs for enhancing nerve repair.- Gene therapy.- Extracellular vesicle therapies.- Models.- In vitro models.- Appropriate preclinical animal models for translational research.- Mathematical and computational models.- Clinical Translation.- Regulatory considerations.- Manufacturing considerations.- Clinical trials.- Commercialisation of nerve repair technology.- Surgical techniques.
Dr. James Phillips is Reader in Regenerative Medicine at University College London (UCL). Prior to this he was a Senior Lecturer in Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering at UCL and Lecturer in Health Sciences at the Open University. He leads an internationally high-profile multidisciplinary research group focussed on nervous system tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This translational work includes construction of living artificial tissues for regenerative medicine, developing novel cell, drug and gene therapies for neural repair and protection, and construction of advanced 3D co-culture models. Research is underpinned by strong productive UK and international collaborations resulting in numer^40 invited talks and seminars including 10 Keynote lectures at International Conferences. Dr Phillips is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the spinout company Glialign Ltd which supports translational development of nerve repair technologies, and is co-founder and co-Director of the UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering which has been established to translate academic neuroscience/engineering discoveries into clinical applications. He is an elected Board Member for the UK Tissue & Cell Engineering Society and the European Society for the Study of Peripheral Nerve Repair and Regeneration as well as being part of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Biomaterials Applications and a member of the Management Board for the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering.
Mag. David Hercher is the head of the Neuroregeneration Group at the LBI. He was trained as a molecular biologist and focused early on molecular medicine as well as neuroscience at the University of Vienna. He conducted his thesis on gene therapeutical approaches after root avulsion injuries under supervision of Prof. Hans Lassmann, and is investigating the effects of phenotypical differences after nerve grafting and the influence of shockwave therapy in his ongoing PhD thesis. He has been working for several years at the LBI, overseeing projects ranging from the application of novel silk fibroin based nerve conduits to the development of novel imaging techniques for nervous tissue using µCT. Furthermore he is involved in an ongoing Wings for Life project for shockwave treatment after spinal cord injury. He serves as a reviewer mainly for journals publishing articles in the field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine and Neuroscience.
Comprehensive overview of all the key technologies developed for current and future nerve repair
Translational perspective links basic scientific knowledge with clinical application
Introduction includes the first published detailed historical perspective of nerve research
Updatability ensures information is current
Links contributions from numerous research and clinical disciplines, reflecting the multidisciplinary translational nature of the topic
