Surrey & Unilever to develop 3D Reconstructed Skin
Experts from the University of Surrey and Unilever are developing the next generation of 3D reconstructed human skin to help test cosmetic products and lifesaving drugs.
With animal testing for cosmetic purposes now banned in the United Kingdom, America and much of Europe, Dr Eirini Velliou has been awarded a prestigious Industrial Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering, allowing her to work with Unilever to develop a unique skin-bioreactor based on polymers, with robust and tuneable architecture/structure, and perfusion. Dr Velliou will use Unilever’s products to test and optimise the reactor, which is hoped to be used as a low cost, animal testing-free, and accurate surrogate for cosmetics.
Dr Velliou, Head of the Bioprocess and Biochemical Engineering Group at the University of Surrey, said: “While the world is rightly putting an end to cosmetic animal testing, we hope our reactor will address some of the problems that have plagued other reconstructive models – such as the ability to mimic blood circulation and the lack of mechanical integrity. This is an exciting opportunity to work with a company the stature of Unilever to develop a novel biomedical platform that will be useful for product screening. We hope that the potential success of this product will help reduce the use of animal testing in biomedical research in the future.”