The overall focus of our research is on biological materials and bio-inspired materials. Our lab is especially interested in structural protein-based biological materials from the tissues of various organisms, especially marine organisms. Such structures often feature unique combinations of biomechanical and physico-chemical characteristics, which can be exploited for designing novel materials in restorative applications or tissue engineering. Our research has a strong multidisciplinary approach, encompassing mechanical behaviour of materials, wear and abrasion at the nano-scale, biochemistry of natural materials, protein chemistry of structural proteins, and single-molecular force spectroscopy. We seek to discover and understand the fundamental biochemical, structural, and biosynthesis mechanisms of natural materials, with a long-term vision to mimic the key chemico-physical principles that can be used to formulate novel bio-inspired materials using environmentally-friendly routes
