Abstract
Biomaterials are no longer considered innate structures and using functionalisation strategies to modulate a desired response whether it is a host or implant is currently an important focus in current research paradigms. Fundamentally, a thorough understanding the host response will enable us to design proper functionalisation strategies. The input from the host response need to be weighed in depending on the host disease condition. In addition, biomaterials themselves provide immense therapeutic benefits which needs to be accounted for when using functionalisation strategies. Using strategies such as enzymatic and hyperbranched linking systems, we have been able to link biomolecules to different structural moieties. Our recent design efforts have harnessed the therapeutic effects of biomaterials and mapped the molecular fingerprint of this specific host response in a disease target. This approach allows us to rethink functionalisation strategies currently employed in the field. This talk will elucidate some of these ongoing strategies that have applications in the development of the next generation of orthopaedics devices.
