This Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity project from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) will integrate the latest innovations in polymer chemistry, bioengineering, and medicine to advance development of a novel biocompatible glue toward medical use as a surgical sealant. For years, chemists and materials scientists have been working to design a biocompatible adhesive that can seal tissue inside the wet environment of the human body. A polymer with the desired characteristics (strong wet adhesion, nontoxic and non-immunogenic, stable under physiological conditions, and flexible for use with soft organs and membranes) has now been synthesized at Caltech. This PFI: BIC project will focus on completing the early translational research tasks (in vivo efficacy and biocompatibility demonstrations; optimization of glue chemistry and formulation for mass-production) to take this discovery to a practicable, market-valued solution that will fill the presently unmet need for a biomedical adhesive that works in wet conditions. This process will also involve development of a novel delivery device that incorporates advances in sensor technology to detect the proper location for glue deposition inside the body.
The broader impacts of this research include enabling new and safer procedures in several areas of medicine (prenatal diagnosis and therapy, vascular surgery, drug delivery, tissue engineering) as well as development of a new class of devices with self-contained sensing mechanisms that enable controlled access and/or delivery of a substance to a precise location in the body. This project also provides opportunities for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students to participate in the exciting process of translating research discoveries to realities and to witness first-hand the potential for innovation that can be realized by integrating academic and industry knowledge from multiple fields. Small business partners will benefit from a competitive advantage in the new market niches created from development of the adhesive and sensing delivery device, creation of new intellectual property, and development of new technical capabilities and expertise, resulting in increased innovation capacity and competitiveness. Partners at the inception of the project are lead academic institution University of California, San Francisco (Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences); small technology-based business partners: Modified Polymer Components, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) and Bay Materials, LLC (Menlo Park, CA); and collaborating academic partner California Institute of Technology (Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering). Other partners include educational partners California Maritime Academy (Vallejo, CA); Saint Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco, CA); San Francisco International High School; San Francisco State University College of Engineering; University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering; the UCSF Center for Educational Partnerships; and the UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach.
