Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine in Ophthalmology

Professor Traian Chirila is a senior scientist at the Queensland Eye Institute, Australia. Professor Chirila has over thirty years experience in polymer science and biomaterials and is highly respected for his ongoing contribution to the field of ophthalmology. Prof Damien Harkin is a Professor at the Centre for Vision and Eye Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia. He is an experienced teacher and medical researcher, in the areas of human structure, function and disease His main area of research focus for the last 20 years has been the development of cell and tissue therapies for the treatment of common and severe eye diseases. This research has been supported by over $3M dollars in research funding and has led to over 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Professor Harkin received his BSc and PhD (Pathology) from the University of Adelaide (1993) before completing postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (1994-1996) and the University of Melbourne (1997). He commenced working at QUT as a lecturer in 2001 and was promoted to Professor in 2016. Professor Harkin also holds honorary positions at the Queensland Eye Institute (since 2005) and Australian Red Cross LifeBlood (since 2020).

An introduction to ophthalmic biomaterials and their application through tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Part 1 Applications in the anterior segment: Advances in intraocular lens development; Opacification and degradation of implanted intraocular lenses; Synthetic corneal implants; Corneal tissue engineering versus synthetic artificial corneas; Tissue engineering of human cornea; Engineering the corneal epithelial cell response to materials; Reconstruction of the ocular surface using biomaterials; Tissue engineering of the lens: Fundamentals; Bioinspired biomaterials for soft contact lenses; Contact lenses: The search for superior oxygen permeability; Extended wear contact lenses. Part 2 Applications in the posterior segment: Designing hydrogels as vitreous substitutes in ophthalmic surgery; Retinal repair and regeneration; Development of tissue-engineered membranes for the culture and transplantation of retinal pigment epithelial cells. Part 3 Other applications: Hydrogel sealants for wound repair in ophthalmic surgery; Orbital enucleation implants: Biomaterials and design; Selected polymeric materials for orbital reconstruction; Physicochemical properties of hydrogels for use in ophthalmology.