Collaboration key to getting centre's research into clinical practice

The centre's research has a strong focus on biointerfaces, but what is a biointerface?

"An interface is a zone where different properties meet. A biointerface could be skin meeting air, or even vessels or cells meeting other structures inside the body. It's what happens in these thin layers that interests us," explains Tautgirdas Ruzgas, Director of the Biofilms Research Centre for Biointerfaces.

Interdisciplinarity at its best

According to Ruzgas, their work will be even more interdisciplinary in the future. Especially between the Faculties of Technology and Society, Health and Society and Odontology. As an example, he mentions an increased focus on ‘non-invasive analysis’.

"It's about analysing people's health without having to take physical samples such as blood tests or biopsies. Researchers at the Faculty of Technology and Society are developing materials that researchers at Health and Society and Odontology are using to build sensors. Interdisciplinarity at its best!"

Funding for research on water

In 2024, Malmö University received a donation of SEK 100 million for research on water to be conducted at the Biofilms Research Centre for Biointerfaces. This will have a major impact on the centre's operations.

"Water research encompasses many things. For us, it's about investigating how water behaves in contact with other materials. Something that is of great importance for the development of drugs and how they might be transported into the body," he says.

What is the biggest challenge for the centre going forward?

"Getting our results at the molecular level into clinical practice for the benefit of human health. To achieve this, we need to continue working closely with healthcare and industry. This is our model for success," says Ruzgas.

English text by Anna Holmwood.