The new Global Centre of Excellence for 3D bioprinting is a collaborative laboratory that is due to start activities at the Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) by the end of 2018. The initiative is at the centre of a new strategic collaboration singed between AMBER, the Science Foundation Ireland-funded materials science institute headquartered at Trinity, and Johnson & Johnson Services.
The facility will initially focus in orthopaedics, to then expand at al later stage its offer of internal scientific expertise. “Because of the fantastic success of the SFI Research Centre, AMBER, Ireland has a worldwide reputation for excellence in 3D bioprinting and is a global leader in materials science”, said Ireland’s Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys.
The laboratory will be located into a 100m2 space within the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) building, comprising lab area suitable for working with bioprinting and cell and tissue culture and meeting and office space for 12 people. The collaborative research will join the forces of both Johnson & Johnson scientists and Trinity academician. The laboratory will be made available to other Principal Investigators, postgraduate and undergraduate students to carry out project work outside of the direct collaborative activity. This will benefit students by providing exposure to industry and the potential to source industry-defined projects. In addition, Johnson & Johnson scientists will be available to provide training and education to students and staff.
“Building on our long-standing collaboration with DePuy Synthes in Ireland, I am confident that this engagement will become the prototypical strategic partnership for AMBER as the Centre moves into the next funding cycle. Our intent is to identify and grow similar engagements of equivalent scale and type across the ICT and manufacturing sectors”, said Professor Michael Morris, AMBER Director