The following UG summer project  has been awarded by the AMR network:

'Designing antibiotic release systems with specific release rates'

Phosphate glasses have a wide potential use as a delivery vehicle of antibiotics, as the glass dissolution rate can change hugely for small changes in the composition of the underlying glass.  This means that the release of antibiotics can, in principle, be controlled to be as small as possible while still being therapeutically useful.

In this project, we will build on our earlier work using advanced computer modelling to understand how phosphate glasses dissolve and what structural units in the glass control the dissolution rate.  Our overall aim is to design a glass composition with a specified release rate of an antibiotic, in this case, silver.  This project is especially intriguing because our preliminary results suggest that silver does not act in the phosphate glass structure in the same way as other ions, a point which we must understand to design the glass appropriately.

Project Lead: Jamieson Christie