The Imperial College London Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology, is funded by Professor Winston Wong, Taiwanese business leader and a physics alumnus of Imperial. It forms part of the College’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

Founding Sponsor's Foreword

Founding Sponsor's Foreword - 2016

It is now six years since the doors to the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology opened, attracting some of the finest scientists and engineers in bio-medical technology from around the world. In that time, the Centre has grown into a leading international hub of multi-disciplinary research addressing some of the challenges for health in today’s world.

In pursuit of these aims, it has been my pleasure to watch the investigators secure independent funds to continue their work and develop their research from the laboratory to the clinic. Knowledge transfer in this way has always been one of the core principles of the Centre. While translating research to medical application is a long and difficult process, it is fundamental to our fight against cancer, diabetes and sepsis to name just a few of the life-threatening conditions for which the Centre is actively developing therapies.

It is therefore especially gratifying to witness so many of these projects gain critical mass to have an impact in the medical and commercial worlds. The Centre has enjoyed success in many diverse fields in this way through publications, products and spin-out companies, with recent success in combating Anti-Microbial Resistance. It is through such products that engineering and academia directly benefit society.

The breakthrough work and recognised successes of the Centre bolsters its proven track record as it continues to spearhead new initiatives for tough and pressing problems. In turn, the reputation grows and attracts more talented researchers and more funding awards to begin new and ever more ambitious projects. As this circle completes, we look forward to it continuing to sustain itself through another successful six years at the heart of bio-medical innovation.

Professor Winston Wong BSc, DIC, PhD, DSc

Founding Sponsor's Foreword - 2015

It is most satisfactory to see another year of research development and innovation at the Centre for Bio-inspired Technology. By securing competitive funding steadily the Centre is thriving, it now counts with a growing number of multidisciplinary researchers working in pioneering projects.

It was only four years ago that the Centre was created with the idea of transferring knowledge learned at the laboratory to the market. Something that is not trivial as it usually takes years for cutting edge technology to reach the wider public. With this new Centre we wanted to inspire new research and accelerate the pace and bring innovation closer to the consumer.

The Centre is leader in merging electronic and medical industry, by bringing together multidisciplinary teams to find solutions for health care such as satiety control implants, breast cancer detection and insulin intelligent pumps. Innovation comes from learning how to think outside the box, and by finding new applications to the electronics developed at the Centre we realised that our technology can be even more versatile and that we could do something that nobody from the electronic industry has done before: bringing medical grade technology to the consumer. The lab-on-chip technology, developed at the Centre, which currently is being applied to health care conditions such as sepsis and breast cancer, could also used for skincare in the cosmetic industry.

I was pleased to receive this year the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from her Majesty the Queen for contributing to education. I thank their Centre for the great support.

Professor Winston Wong OBE, BSc, DIC, PhD, DSc

Founding Sponsor's Foreword - 2014

It is most satisfactory to see another year of research development and innovation at the Centre for Bio-inspired Technology. By securing competitive funding the Centre continues to thrive and is an international hub of multidisciplinary researchers working in pioneering projects. It was only four years ago that the Centre was created with the idea of transferring knowledge learned at the laboratory to the market. Something that is not trivial as it usually takes years for cutting edge technology to reach the wider public. With this new Centre we wanted to inspire new research and accelerate the pace and bring innovation closer to the consumer.

The Centre is leader in merging electronic and medical industry, by bringing together multidisciplinary teams to find solutions for health care such as satiety control implants, breast cancer detection and insulin intelligent pumps.

Innovation comes from learning how to think outside the box, and by finding new applications to the electronics developed at the Centre we realised that our technology can be even more versatile and that we could do something that nobody from the electronic industry has done before: bringing medical grade technology to the consumer.

The lab-on-chip technology, developed at the Centre, which currently is being applied to health care conditions such as sepsis and breast cancer, could also used for skincare in the cosmetic industry.

Bringing this state-of-the-art technology to the cosmetic and fashion industry is ground breaking. We are bringing the knowledge developed in the laboratory to the high street: the new cosmetic company GENEU.

I am proud to be a major investor and founder of GENEU, as it captures the spirit of the Centre for Bio-inspired Technology, to bring innovation from the laboratory to industry.

We are now embarking into a new entrepreneurial project this time in the cosmetic industry that is a world of its own. GENEU has gathered experts in fashion, design and cosmetics and counts with the invaluable scientific consultancy of Chris Toumazou.

Launching and nurturing GENEU from the early stages to seeing it come to life when opening it´s doors to the public is very exciting. On September of this year GENEU opened its flagship store at one of the most exclusive streets in London, New Bond Street. This is a beautiful retail shop with minimal design where customers can find a new generation of skincare products.

GENEU counts with a dedicated team of experts of the cosmetic industry and pays a great attention to detail and design.

Last September, I was proud to receive, on behalf of the team, the 2014 Luxury Packaging Award for the beautiful airlift pump system created by Toly Products UK for GENEU. These are very prestigious awards organised by Packaging News, the reference publication of the packaging sector. These awards are very prestigious not just nationally but internationally as the UK is world leader in packaging. It is a fantastic recognition to the great efforts and quality products developed at GENEU. It was a celebrated success.

GENEU will bring a revolution to skincare. It is consumer genetics, state of the art technology accessible to the consumer. Bio-inspired technology in the High Street.

Professor Winston Wong BSc, DIC, PhD, DSc

Founding Sponsor's Foreword - 2013

It is gratifying to see the Centre complete another year of research and to watch the development not only of the research programmes in bringing devices closer to market but of the staff and students. The number of alumni graduating from the Centre or leaving to start their own research groups is increasing and I am confident that they will continue to pursue their research interests in this most vital of fields.

It has always been the Centre’s aim to undertake research which has a direct application to healthcare and to ensure that equal emphasis is given to its transfer from the laboratory to market. I am especially interested in supporting the nurturing and incubation of ideas and technologies and investing in the commercialisation of research to ensure that products reach the healthcare sector. The progress being made in some projects towards clinical trials is particularly encouraging. This year I was able to host a dinner in London at which I brought together researchers and potential investors and where Professor Toumazou was able to talk about his latest application of the DNA sequencing technology, appetite control sensors and an artificial pancreas. It was a lively evening of conversations and discussions around research, ideas and technology transfer. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be able to lend support in this way to the Centre’s research programme.

I would like to heartily congratulate Professor Toumazou on being appointed the first Regius Professor at Imperial College London to mark the Founding Sponsor’s foreword Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Only two of the new 12 Regius Professorships were in Engineering. Further congratulations are due on his being elected to a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Chris is one of a very small group who hold fellowships of the three major institutions – the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences. These fellowships not only recognise Chris as an innovator and researcher but also his multidisciplinary approach in bringing together science, engineering and medicine to provide solutions to the problems posed by healthcare needs.

I also congratulate all those concerned with the Centre on another successful year and wish the Centre and its researchers continued success.

Professor Winston Wong BSc, PhD, DSc

Founding Sponsor's Foreword - 2012

This Centre brings together my passions for medical device technology and semiconductors. I first decided to make a donation to Imperial College London to found this specialist Centre in 2010. I came to know Professor Toumazou from his work in developing silicon technology, especially in relation to personalised healthcare devices, and I knew, from our many discussions, that he held a strong belief that biological systems hold the key to innovative technologies. He told me of his vision to continue inventing and developing devices which mimicked living systems and I found that an equally fascinating proposition.

I am delighted to have enabled the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology to become a reality. I am very pleased to continue my close association with the Centre and to see the progress being made towards new devices for the diagnosis and management of chronic disease. In this, as in previous Reports, the researchers describe the work they are undertaking, share their ideas and hypotheses and demonstrate the progress they have been able to make.

We have all become more demanding of healthcare at a time when ageing and so many ‘lifestyle’ diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardio vascular problems are challenging the care systems and services. We are Founding Sponsor’s foreword becoming less tolerant of reducing our independence and have no wish to spend time in hospitals if this can be avoided. It is heartening to see that so many of these challenges are being confronted and that the Centre’s researchers are developing some real solutions which will be of widespread benefit. The progress in some areas towards clinical trials is of particular note.

I congratulate all those concerned with the Centre on another successful year and wish the Centre and its researchers continued success.

Professor Winston Wong BSc, PhD, DSc