Stimuli Responsive Materials for the Rapid Detection and Treatment of Healthcare Associated Infections

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are bacterial infections obtained as a result of clinical treatment, e.g., following medical intervention. HAIs are a problem of tremendous proportion as more than four million EC citizens get infected annually. The ECDC estimates 147,000 HAI-related deaths in Europe each year, a large part stemming from wound infections. These alarming facts motivate the urgent need to develop novel medical devices, in particular wound dressings, which rapidly signal and prevent or eradicate invasive bacterial colonization following a stimulus. Current antimicrobial coatings rely on slow, passive diffusion of antimicrobials. Hence the antimicrobial may not be sufficiently concentrated to eliminate the infection. Zones with a low concentration of antibiotics promote the evolution of resistance. There is a need for dedicated research leaders in industry and academia to tackle these challenges in healthcare. This need is urgent in light of an increasingly aging population and unprecedented levels of antibiotic resistance. These scientists of the future still will need primary training in chemistry or microbiology, but they will have to operate at the interface between disciplines. For example, future materials chemists will need to perform microbiology experiments and to appreciate the engineering required to translate a lab invention to a production prototype. All research leaders must understand the societal, business, and regulatory environment around new medical device development. Therefore, leading academic research groups and companies from all over Europe have come together to create a doctoral school to train these future research leaders while performing cutting edge research. The research focus of the ETN “Stimuli Responsive Materials for the Rapid Detection and Treatment of Healthcare Associated Infections” STIMULUS is on the theranostic treatment of wound infections. The objectives are: 1) Diagnostic: To create materials that clearly and rapidly signal when an infection is present; 2) Therapeutic: triggered release of antimicrobials to treat the infection; 3) Translational and theranostic: integration of responsive materials into prototype wound dressings.