Dr. Afeesh Rajan Unnithan
Information about Dr. Afeesh Rajan Unnithan at the University of Bradford.
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Biography
DrAfeesh Rajan Unnithan is working as a Lecturer in the Centre for PharmaceuticalEngineering Science at the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. Prior tojoining the University of Bradford, he was working as a Research fellow inProf. Alicia ElHaj’s lab at the University of Birmingham. He obtained his PhDin Bionanosystem Engineering from the Jeonbuk National University, South Koreain 2013. He obtained two Young Investigator grants from the National ResearchFoundation of Korea in 2013 and 2018 respectively. Each of these projects was valuedat $150,000 for 3 years. Moreover, he is also a recipient (2016) of the prestigiousKorean Research Fellowship (KRF) worth $250,000 for 5 years.
As a PI in theabove-mentioned projects, he has developed multifunctional novel materialstermed piezoelectric biomaterials for the development of next-generation ofbiomaterial implants. Thus, Dr Afeesh is an expert in the development andcharacterisation of electroactive biomaterials and their cellular interactionsin an electrically active environment with the aim of enhanced tissueregeneration. These areas have formed the foundation of his research vision toinnovate the next-generation multifunctional smart biomaterials that enhancecell stimulation by producing bioelectrical signals analogous to nativetissues.DrAfeesh has published 55 peer-reviewed journal papers with 2960 citations withan h-index of 28 and it includes publications in the most prestigious journalvenues in material science such as Advanced Functional Materials, NanoEnergy etc. Moreover, he has contributed 3 book chapters to two scholarlybooks namely Nanotechnology Applications for Tissue Engineering andPolyurethane Polymers Blends and Interpenetrating Polymer Networks published byElsevier. He also served as an editor for the book titled “BiomimeticNanoengineered Materials for Advanced drug Delivery” by Elsevier.
Research
As evinced in my academicmilieus, I possess a strong interdisciplinary research background. Aftercompleting a Master’s Degree (M.Tech) in Nanomedicine, I pressed ahead to aninterdisciplinary research career in which my main focus was on the preparationand functionalisation of multifunctional nanosystems including electrospunnanofibrous scaffolds and functional nanoparticles for various therapeutic andtissue regenerative applications.
Ihave developed multifunctional novel biomaterials termed piezoelectric biomaterialsfor the development of next-generation of biomaterial implants. I havedeveloped piezoelectric hybrid nanoparticles such as PiezoMagneticnanoparticles, and PiezoPlasmoic Nanoparticles for noninvasive regenerative medicine applications. Interestinglythese materials are also exploited for developing Nano-generators as asustainable source of energy for biomedical implants.
Thus, in short, I am anexpert in the development and characterisation of electroactive biomaterialsand their cellular interactions in an electrically active environment with theaim of enhanced tissue regeneration. These areas have formed the foundation ofmy research vision to innovate the next generation of multifunctional smartbiomaterials that enhance cell stimulation by producing bioelectrical signalsanalogous to native tissues. Some of my recent notable research achievementsare listed below
(1) The first report on the development of an ImplantableAnticancer Device (IAD) for post-surgical breast cancer therapy andsimultaneous breast reconstruction (Therapy+Diagnosis + Regeneration=Theranogeneration)
(2) Co-developed the Piezoelectric Whitlockitefor the first time for enhanced proliferation and osteogenic differentiationthrough non-invasive cell stimulation
(3) Co-developed Blood-flow driven smart Piezoelectricstent
(4) Development of Piezomagnetic hybridnanoparticles for ultrasound-driven non-invasive post-surgicalosteosarcoma Therogeneration
(5) The first report on the mussel-inspirednanofibers and their application as an anticancer patch
Our research is focused to launch a new dynamic treatment platform,which will extend the therapeutic horizon and provide a new form ofremote-controlled healing. From a future perspective, Piezoelectric-biomaterialswill gain their role in various biomedical applications like biosensors,biomechanical energy harvesters, self-powered bioimplants, artificialelectronic skins and implantable microelectronics owing to their smart energyconversion properties.