Congratulations to S&C’s Dr Amelia Seifalian who won the 2022 Young Innovator award from Innovate UK.
Dr Amelia Seifalian is a junior NHS doctor and a part-time PhD student in S&C, under the supervision of Prof Nagy Habib and Prof Vik Khullar (Urogynaecology).
Her project is on the development of a novel pelvic implant to treat prolapse using graphene-based nanocomposite materials and stem cell technology. The award, supported by Innovate UK, KTN, UK Research and Innovation, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), will include funding to support the development of her idea
Pelvic organ prolapse affects half of women worldwide. A previous, unsuccessful treatment using a polypropylene-based mesh resulted in a ban. Amelia is in the early stages of researching a substitute product that would be made using graphene-based nanocomposite material. At the same time, she is proposing stem cell technology to overcome previous issues with the mesh treatment and provide a potential cure for the condition.
Speaking about the award, Amelia said: “It is such an honour to have this fantastic award to accelerate the start of my PhD project at Imperial College London developing a novel surgical adjunct for pelvic organ prolapse surgery using graphene-based nanocomposite materials (Hastalex®) and stem cell technology.”
Amelia already has a track record in the application of nanotechnology in medicine, having published over a dozen papers in the field. Given the success with her proposed membrane, her goal is to go on to develop further products with the potential to revolutionise healthcare.