A new initiative at King's College London focused on helping head and neck cancer patients has been awarded a 10 million pound ($16.5 million) Wellcome Trust/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Medical Engineering Centre (MEC) grant, according to the university.
The Rebuilding Faces program, led by professor Timothy Watson, director of research and head of the Biomaterials, Biomimetics, and Biophotonics Research Group at the Dental Institute, addresses the fundamental concepts that underlie the biology, engineering, and manufacture of tissues concerning the human face. The effect of abnormal growths (neoplasia) and trauma and their clinical management often leads to profound tissue loss in the head and neck, devastating both the patient and their family, according to Watson. The Dental Institute manages some 480 new cases a year, with an increase in new cases of 10% annually. The institute therefore has a growing population of survivors in need of facial reconstruction to restore their quality of life.
"This funding will underpin tissue engineering and imaging development in the Biomaterials, Biomimetics, and Biophotonics Research Group and will undoubtedly enable us to attract further grant income," Watson said in a press release.
The funding is to run for a period of five years, under the direction of professor Rezza Razavi and the Imaging Sciences Division at King's.
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