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Full NameProfessor Fergal O'Brien

Department of Anatomy

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Webpage:rcsi.ie

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Research Fields

cell and developmental biology/regenerative medicine
bioengineering/medical devices

Postgrad Medical Specialties

Surgery
Ophthalmology

Medical Subspecialties

Cardiology
Dermatology
Infectious diseases
Neurology
Orthopaedic surgery
Otorhinolaryngology
Pharmacology
Vascular Medicine

My Work

Prof. Fergal O'Brien is a leading innovator in the development of advanced biomaterials for regenerative medicine. His research focuses on the development of natural polymer (such as collagen) scaffold-based therapeutics for tissue engineering with target applications in bone, cartilage, cardiovascular, ocular, respiratory and neural tissues. A major focus of ongoing research has been to functionalise these scaffolds for use as delivery systems for biomolecules with a particular interest in the delivery of nucleic acids (pDNA, siRNA and microRNA) to enhance their therapeutic potential. His group also focusses on the use of these scaffolds as advanced 3D pathophysiology in vitro systems for drug development and for studying cellular crosstalk in co-cultures and understanding disease states in cancer, angiogenesis, immunology and infection.

In addition, he has a major interest in studying the response of living cells to mechanical stimuli (mechanobiology) and using biophysical stimuli (applied by bioreactors or controlled by scaffold stiffness) to regulate stem cell differentiation. A number of technologies from his lab have been patented resulting in the spin out in 2011 of a high potential start-up, SurgaColl Technologies. The first product from the group commercialised by SurgaColl, HydroxyColl, a collagen-hydroxyapatite bone graft substitute received regulatory approval (CE mark) in Nov. 2015 and is currently in clinical use. A second product, ChondroColl, a multi-layered scaffold for cartilage repair, is expected to receive regulatory approval in 2016. Human clinical studies are expected to commence in 2017.