The University of the West of England (UWE)
Who they are
The University of the West of England (UWE) is a
modern, growing university in the thriving city of Bristol. UWE is
one of Britain's most popular universities, with more than 30,000
students and 3,000 staff and is the largest provider of higher
education in the south west of England.
The huge implications of nanotechnology within
the biotechnology industry represents a key specialism of the
University.
What they do
The Faculty of Applied Sciences is advancing
nanotechnological developments in the fields of biomedicine,
materials and sensor sciences.
The Centre for Research in Biomedicine is
investigating the possible adverse effects of new drugs using cell
culture models. Robust three-dimensional cell systems known as
spheroids are used to mimic in-life responses and to predict how
humans will respond to new drugs. This research has the potential
to contribute to high throughput screening in drug discovery,
reducing the time it takes to bring drugs to patients.
The Bristol Genomics Research Institute
investigates molecular-diagnostic methods to enable non-invasive
prenatal diagnosis to take place using maternal plasma as a source
of foetal DNA, and to use 'gene chips' to aid diagnosis of
leukaemia and to define human polymorphic variation
(tissue-typing).
The Centre for Research in Analytical,
Materials and Sensor Science has developed a range of sensors in
the fields of medical and veterinary diagnoses. Researchers have
demonstrated the use of micro- and nano-metre sized magnetic
particles as labels in immunoassays which give significantly
improved assay times compared to conventional disease diagnosis
methods.