'Medical devices such as wound dressings and catheters are vulnerable to bacterial infection, which can delay healing and worsen a patient’s healthcare outcome. However, devices can, in principle, be modified to provide the possibility of an ‘early warning’ alert of bacterial infection to allow improved patient monitoring and better targeting of interventions such as antibiotics.'

In the first half of his inaugural lecture as Professor of Biophysical Chemistry, Toby Jenkins will discuss current research in his group at Bath, focused on making infection detecting and infection treating devices, and where the work will go in the future. The final half of the lecture will chart the tortuous journey from obtaining his PhD in Electrochemistry and Corrosion to his current research area via the work of collaborators and his PhD students and post-docs over the years.

Speaker profiles

Toby was appointed a lecturer at the University of Bath in 2000. He obtained his BSc in Chemistry in 1992 and PhD in 1995, both from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Since arriving at Bath he has built up an interdisciplinary research team designing and testing functional materials for triggered antimicrobial release and bacterial sensing, focusing on constructing ‘smart’ wound dressings, and a newer project prototyping dual action infection detecting/controlling urinary catheters. He works closely with clinical partners, including Dr Amber Young at the South West England Children’s Burns Centre at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and has received funding from generous alumni and charity donations, UK research council and the European Union.