Hope For Back Pain Sufferers Offered By Award Winning Research

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Hope For Back Pain Sufferers Offered By Award Winning Research

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=53433

A University of Manchester engineering student has scooped a top

industry prize for research that could bring relief to thousands of

back pain sufferers.

Ambury scooped The Crucible prize for the Best

Materials Student in the annual Science, Engineering and Technology

(SET) Student of the Year Awards.

Her final year project, which focused on tissue engineering and

examined how special braces or 'scaffolds' could be used to treat

slipped discs and other back problems, received glowing praise from

the panel of judges.

The spark of inspiration for 's work came from a PhD student,

who was working on a project on back pain. The condition is reported

to affect two out of three adults at some time in their lives and it

is estimated UK industry loses billions of pounds as a result.

Employing an engineering process known as electro spinning,

produced a series of 'bioresorbable' polymer scaffolds, which can be

surgically implanted to hold tissue together, helping cells repair

and re-grow.

Using these bioresorbable scaffolds, which dissolve naturally over

time, reduces the cost of treatment and allows the patient to recover

quicker.

As part of her work, 22-year-old looked into the physical and

biological impact of using different types of scaffold.

She was nominated for the prestigious Crucible award by her

tutors in June 2006. After making the three-strong shortlist,

was invited down to London at the end of September, to discuss her

project with the judges.

collected her prize at a swish black-tie ceremony at the

Royal Courts of Justice.

Although her research has not yet reached the clinical stage, she

hopes that other University of Manchester students will pick up the

gauntlet and take her award-winning work further.

" It's fantastic to have my final year project recognised at a

national level and to be supported by the University, " said

. " I would like to thank the World Leadership Forum and

Crucible for supporting engineering and science with this award. "

Professor Bob Young, head of The University of Manchester's School of

Materials said: " We are delighted that has won the prize. She

has been an enthusiastic and hard-working student throughout her

course and deserves the success.

" This is the third time in the last five years that one of our

graduates has won the SET award in the face of strong competition

from students at Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College in London.

" We are also very pleased that has decided to stay on with us

to continue her studies and undertake a PhD in the important area of

biomedical materials science. "

In awarding the accolade, judges from the Institute of

Materials, Minerals and Mining commented: " presented a

project containing high quality technical which is highly relevant

and valuable to current medical practices.

" showed a maturity of approach in both her scientific work

and her dealing with colleagues.

" We feel will make a great ambassador for materials science

and will influence all whom she meets. "

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While at the University of Manchester, has been awarded

Institute of Materials Course Prize, the Court Medal from the Senate,

the School of Materials course prize and the Ceramics Prize

for the best final year project in the School of Materials. She has

also been nominated for the Institute of Materials RH Craven Award.s:

The SET Awards (Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the

Year) are Britain's most important awards for science and technology

undergraduates. Supported by British Industry, and Britain's leading

scientific and technical institutions, the SET awards are

multidisciplinary to reflect the wide range of degrees our

universities have to offer. The SET awards provide a showcase for

educational excellence by publicly recognising the exceptional

achievements of both students and universities. They are presented at

a spectacular ceremony bringing together hundreds of technology

students and academics, as well as senior figures from industry,

government, science and the media. The awards are organised by the

World Leadership Forum. For more information, see

http://www.setawards.org/.

's project, entitled 'Novel bioresorbable electrospun

synthetic polymer scaffolds for tissue-engineered intervertebral disc

repairs' was part of her MEng in Biomedical Materials Science with

Industrial Experience. She is now studying for a PhD within the

biomaterials group at The University of Manchester.