- Tell us more about the very beginning of the m2M project. How it was writing the proposal, setting up the team, and your very first impressions.
Prof Jos Malda and I had previously written unsuccessful EU grant applications together, but we were keen to try again, so when the EU bioprinting call was announced we decided to submit an application. This was the start of the m2M project. Once we reviewed the call document, we began the process of identifying the partners that could best help us to develop a project that met all the objectives of the call. Some of these team members were existing collaborators, others were researchers and companies we had never worked with before.
My first impressions have been excellent. All of the team members are actively engaged in the project, regularly collaborating and already making progress in realising the goals of m2M.
2. As project coordinator what do you think will be your biggest challenge?
The administration of large projects like m2M, which has multiple academic and industrial partners, is both challenging and time consuming. We have a large number of project deliverables, and as project coordinator I have a responsibility to ensure these are all met in a timely manner. I am fortunate to have excellent colleagues from the AMBER research centre in Trinity College Dublin to help me with m2M project management.
3. How do you think the m2M project can make a difference in the bioprinting field and how, in your opinion, can the project help patients and strength the European biomanufacturing capacity and fostering collaboration between industry and clinicians.
There has been a lot of hype and hope associated with the field of bioprinting, but so far little of the research in this field has translated into new products or treatments for patients. As part of m2M, we are considering how any bioprinted tissue we produce might comply with EU good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards from the very onset of the project, which should accelerate eventual commercialisation and clinical translation. Furthermore, we have companies operating in the European biomanufacturing sector as partners in m2M, which promotes collaboration and the sharing of knowledge between academia and industry.
4. For you, what is the main result that m2M will deliver?
I hope that we will develop bioprinted osteochondral grafts capable of promoting the regeneration of synovial joints such as the knee. Furthermore, I hope we will have identified a pathway for the eventual clinical translation of such a therapy.
5. We reached the 1-year mark of the project; how do you see the progress made?
During the first year of m2M we were busy recruiting and training new team members, as well as sharing knowhow, expertise and materials between partners to enable us to realise the collaborative goals of our project. Progress has been made in scaling-up the manufacture of microtissues, designing and building new bioprinting hardware, and producing new biomaterials to be used in our bioprinted grafts. We are now well placed to make significant progress over the coming year.