In line with Loughborough's long-term strategy to help to 'improve the nation's quality of life' the University has created a fully integrated 'innovation-to-product' shared 'Centre for Biological Engineering' (CBE) between the Department of Chemical Engineering, The Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. This initiative has built new capability and capacity in biological engineering in the UK and by maximising the amount of resource available, will enable Loughborough to compete globally. The facility is made-up of a suite of restricted access Class 2 laboratories for human and animal cell growth and an analytical suite to service all laboratories.
A second cGXP laboratory suite features a range of new cell culture vessels, an automated cell culture platform, FACS and further state-of-the art imaging and analytical techniques. Open plan writing and meeting rooms are located adjacent to these laboratories.
The activities within the CBE are positioned in the translational space between scientific discovery and the production of cell based / biological products, techniques and therapies, making Loughborough one of the major national centres for late stage, cGMP, process oriented research.
The CBE is the home of the £5.3m EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine. Loughborough has taken a leading position in the three demonstrator platforms of the Grand Challenge: automated human cell culture for therapeutic applications, repeatable processes for tissue scaffold manufacturing and processing of 3D structures demanding the controlled secretion of extra cellular matrix (ECM). The team has an estimated 2-year lead on its competitors for the automated culture of human cells in vitro.
