Biomaterials-associated infections

Microbial infections are a life-threatening disease. Microorganisms are adhering to a surface, either through aggregation with each other, adhesion to tissue or to a medical implant, yielding an adaptive response. This adaptive response includes the production of an extracellular polymeric matrix, that protects biofilm bacteria against environmental attacks including antibiotics and the immune system. The biofilm mode of growth combined with the occurrence of intrinsic bacterial antimicrobial-resistance forms the basis of alarming reports predicting that antimicrobial-resistant infections will become the number one cause of human death by the year 2050.

Our main fields of research interest are:

• Prevention of microbial adhesion on biomaterials by anti-adhesive coatings, antimicrobial coatings, surface topographies.
• Stimulate the immune system to attack microbial adhesion.
• Non-antibiotic strategies based on nanotechnology for infection control.