Dr Sophie Williams awarded prestigious EPSRC grant
Dr Sophie Williams, School of Mechanical Engineering, is one of eight researchers awarded a grant to address long-term health challenges through the development of innovative healthcare technologies.
Dr Williams’ project, entitled Enhanced surgical treatments for hip osteoarthritis, is designed to improve the understanding of factors leading to impingement - this can occur in the natural hip and replaced hip and in both cases leads to loss of function and pain for the patient.
By establishing an experimental anatomical hip simulator, that will include “artificial” bone and soft tissue models (to be developed with advanced manufacturing engineers at Leeds; Prof Russ Harris and Dr Rob Kay), Dr Williams will be able to provide better guidance to clinicians on how surgery should be performed –researchers will work with orthopaedic surgeons to integrate findings into clinical practice.
Dr Williams has been awarded £998,918, which was allocated by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the second Healthcare Technologies Challenge Awards call.
About the Healthcare Technologies Challenge Awards
The awards will provide support to a new generation of research leaders to develop personal programmes of high quality, creative and multidisciplinary research, as well as supporting and growing their research groups.
The researchers will collaborate with clinicians, healthcare professionals and industrial partners to inform, develop and translate their research through to application.
EPSRC Chief Executive, Professor Philip Nelson, said: EPSRC's Healthcare Technologies Challenge Awards are designed to equip the next generation of research leaders with the tools they need to tackle current and emerging health challenges facing society.
The awards are designed to equip the next generation of research leaders... to tackle current and emerging health challenges facing society
About the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The EPSRC invest £800 million per year in research and postgraduate training to build the knowledge and skills base needed to address the scientific and technological challenges facing the nation.
Research funded by the EPSRC has impact across all sectors - from healthcare technologies to structural engineering; manufacturing to mathematics; and advanced materials to chemistry.
Further information
For more information about the EPSRC, view their website.
For further details about Dr Sophie Williams' research interests, view her staff profile.
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