Structured Biointerfaces

The Structured Biointerfaces group is a newly formed research group within the Department of Pharmacy led by Professor Ben J. Boyd who recently was awarded a Novo Nordisk Laureate Research Fellowship. The group aims to improve the understanding of the surface of particles in physiological environments for improved performance of formulated products across a range of fields including the pharmaceutical and food industries.

The formation of a complex corona of adsorbed protein and lipid on the surface of particles when they are in the bloodstream is now a well-recognised and important phenomenon. However there has been only limited study of the change in ‘bioidentity’ of particles when components from other biological fluids adsorb onto particles. The primary goal of the Structured Biointerfaces Group is to understand the bioidentity of particles when they encounter other complex biological media with a focus on gastrointestinal fluids and to elucidate the consequence of the formation of this ‘corona’ for the interactions of particles with gut biology.

Central research questions

The group’s focus is on an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the surface structure and chemistry of particles in physiological environments, particularly gastrointestinal fluids, and the consequences for interaction with biological tissues. The group uses a range of structural and analytical techniques in order to understand these aspects of particles in pharmaceutical products and food, including international synchrotron and neutron scattering facilities, advanced microscopy as well as lipidomic and proteomic analysis to understand composition of the interface. Understanding how the structure and chemistry at the interface then impacts on interactions with gut biointerfaces (microbiota, mucus, epithelial surfaces etc) is our unifying research question.