Self-funded projects ae welcome

I work on the development of biomaterials to support tissue regeneration, in particular hard tissue regeneration (bone). Such biomaterials are implanted into tissue defects, which can occur as a result of injury or tumor resection.

In particular, I focus on composite biomaterials, namely mineralized hydrogels, in order to combine the positive characteristics of the mineral phase (mechanical strength, ability to support bone regeneration) with the positive characteristics of the hydrogel phase (ease of incorporation of biologically active substances, such as enzymes and antibacterial agents).

I am interested in endowing biomaterials with antibacterial activity to prevent infection during implantation, which is becoming increasingly important given the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

I am also interested in biomaterial coatings and the use of substances from the food industry in biomaterial development.

I have published 100 A1 publications relating to biomaterials for bone contact with an extensive network of international collaborators, including many in Germany, Belgium, Russia and Poland in particular. I regularly host visiting researchers from these countries and others.

I am passionate about international collaboration and have organized several UK-Russia conferences on biomaterials-related topics at Lancaster, which were funded by the British Council and intended to stimulate cooperation. I have also organized an UK-Poland online conference on Bio-Inspired Materials, funded by the British Embassy in Warsaw and the UK Science and Innovation Network.

I am a firm believer in the benefits of language learning and I am a member of the International Association of Hyperpolyglots (HYPIA):

Timothy Douglas | HYPIA | Polyglots (polyglotassociation.org)

I consider myself very lucky to work in a profession which allows me to combine my interests in science and other countries and languages. I use German, Dutch, Russian and Polish regularly in my work and have reached a conversational level in several other languages. 

I am very keen to promote multilingualism and language learning in science. International collaboration and mobility are encouraged, but there is very little discussion about the role of languages in communicating with others and, more importantly, in building relationships with speakers of other languages. In order to start this discussion, with colleagues from Department of Languages and Cultures (DeLC) and Institute for Social Futures (ISF), I organised the first "Languages in Science" conference at Lancaster University in November 2021. I am very keen to hear from those who have enhanced their scientific career through languages.