Dr Thomas Paterson
School of Clinical Dentistry
Lecturer
+44 114 215 9376
Full contact details
School of Clinical Dentistry
19 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
- Profile
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Dr Thomas Paterson joined the School of Clinical Dentistry in 2023 as a Lecturer, bringing experience in biomaterials science, bioelectronics, and interdisciplinary healthcare technologies. Alongside his lecturing role, he serves as a director for the Smart Devices and Sensors theme within the Insigneo Institute and sits on the Neuroscience Insitute ECR committee. Dr Paterson's research career has spanned several departments at the University of Sheffield, including Dentistry, Materials Engineering, and Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE). His academic journey has also included short-term visiting roles in China and India.
Dr Paterson's work in bioengineering focuses on developing practical healthcare solutions by integrating materials science and bioelectronics. His research contributes to dental and neural bioelectronics, developing implantable materials and wearable sensors. He is dedicated to interdisciplinary research, aiming to translate scientific research into real-world healthcare applications.
- Research interests
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Dr Paterson focuses his research on integrating materials science and bioelectronics within healthcare applications. He develops implantable and wearable devices, tailored to serve diagnostic and therapeutic functions, particularly in dentistry and neurobiology. These devices have applications that range from treating epilepsy to aiding wound healing, collecting multimodal biosignals, and monitoring dental health. Additionally, he is developing technologies that facilitate research into fundamental biological questions.
Key projects
Composite Material Printing: 3D printing of conductive composite materials for wearable devices and implantable sensors.
Bruxism Monitoring: Using machine learning and multimodal biosignal collection to monitor and treat bruxism (tooth grinding).
MND Diagnostic Glove: Developing and commercialising a wearable device for monitoring neurodegenerative diseases.
Bite Force Sensing: Producing ultrathin, flexible pressure sensors using conductive electrospun membranes.
Neural Implants: Collaborating on highly porous, non-degradable conductive hydrogel implants for neural stimulation and recording.
Thermal Cooling for Epilepsy: Part of the Integrabrain team working on a closed-loop implantable system for thermal cooling of focal epilepsy.
Bioelectronic Connectors: Creating gradient stiffness materials for hard-to-soft bioelectronic connections.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Highly porous polycaprolactone microspheres for skeletal repair promote a mature bone cell phenotype in vitro.. J Mater Chem B.
- Enhanced antibacterial ability of electrospun PCL scaffolds incorporating ZnO nanowires. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(19). View this article in WRRO
- Electrochemically driven assembly of chitosan hydrogels on PEDOT surfaces. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering. View this article in WRRO
- Electrically Controlled Click‐Chemistry for Assembly of Bioactive Hydrogels on Diverse Micro‐ and Flexible Electrodes. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 43(23).
- Electrically controlled click‐chemistry for assembly of bioactive hydrogels on diverse micro‐ and flexible electrodes. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 43(23). View this article in WRRO
- Monitoring of hand function enabled by low complexity sensors printed on textile. Flexible and Printed Electronics, 7(3).
- Demonstrating the potential of using bio-based sustainable polyester blends for bone tissue engineering applications. Bioengineering, 9(4). View this article in WRRO
- Thiolene- and polycaprolactone methacrylate-based polymerized high internal phase emulsion (PolyHIPE) scaffolds for tissue engineering. Biomacromolecules, 23(3), 720-730. View this article in WRRO
- Tuning electrospun substrate stiffness for the fabrication of a biomimetic amniotic membrane substitute for corneal healing. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 4(7), 5638-5649. View this article in WRRO
- Bioactive and topographically-modified electrospun membranes for the creation of new bone regeneration models. Processes, 8(11). View this article in WRRO
- Electrospun scaffolds containing silver-doped hydroxyapatite with antimicrobial properties for applications in orthopedic and dental bone surgery. Journal of Functional Biomaterials, 11(3). View this article in WRRO
- Multifunctional copper-containing mesoporous glass nanoparticles as antibacterial and proangiogenic agents for chronic wounds. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8. View this article in WRRO
- Use of silver-based additives for the development of antibacterial functionality in Laser Sintered polyamide 12 parts. Scientific Reports, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Ag modified mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles for enhanced antibacterial activity in 3D infected skin model. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 103, ---.
- Porous microspheres support mesenchymal progenitor cell ingrowth and stimulate angiogenesis. APL Bioengineering, 2(2). View this article in WRRO
- Selective laser melting–enabled electrospinning: Introducing complexity within electrospun membranes. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 231(6), 565-574. View this article in WRRO
- Photocurable high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) containing hydroxyapatite for additive manufacture of tissue engineering scaffolds with multi-scale porosity. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 67, 51-58. View this article in WRRO
- Osteosarcoma growth on trabecular bone mimicking structures manufactured via laser direct write. International Journal of Bioprinting, 2(2). View this article in WRRO
- Emulsion Templated Scaffolds with Tunable Mechanical Properties for Bone Tissue Engineering. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. View this article in WRRO
- Combination of Microstereolithography and Electrospinning to Produce Membranes Equipped with Niches for Corneal Regeneration. Journal of Visualised Experiments, 91. View this article in WRRO
- PolyHIPE-based porous microparticles for tissue engineering. JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, 8, 422-423.
- Electro-assisted assembly of conductive polymer and soft hydrogel into core-shell hybrids. Soft Science, 3(1), 3-3.
- Combination of Microstereolithography and Electrospinning to Produce Membranes Equipped with Niches for Corneal Regeneration. Journal of Visualized Experiments(91).
Conference proceedings papers
- Highly Porous Particles for Cell Recruitment and Delivery in Bone Tissue Engineering. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 21 (pp S287-S288)
- Manufacturing of PolyHIPE-based Porous Microparticles for Bone Tissue Engineering
. The University of Sheffield Engineering Symposium Conference Proceedings Vol. 1, Vol. 1. The Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield View this article in WRRO
- Highly porous polycaprolactone microspheres for skeletal repair promote a mature bone cell phenotype in vitro.. J Mater Chem B.
- Research group
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PGR
Mingda Lu, “Electrospinning chemically and mechanically graded scaffolds for mimicking the tendon-to-bone interface”
Nick Hagis, “Development of Stretchable Devices for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Neuromuscular Diseases”
MennaAllah Mahmoud, “Biohybrid robots”
Undergraduate
Nadirah Ahmed, “Wearable Sensor Headband Development for Bruxism Monitoring”
Alumni
Aliza Bano, “Developing and Evaluating Conductive Electrospun Sensors for Jaw Movement Tracking”
Georgia Hearn, “Impact of External Cooling on Neuronal Cells: An Investigation Using a Prototype Cooling Platform”
Maciek Filicha, (GenerationResearch project), “Development of mechanically gradient conductive materials for bioelectronic interfaces”
Rizana Riyaz, “Exploring the Cellular Mechanisms of Wound Healing Under Variable Pressure Conditions”
Fatemeh Mazloumi Aboukheili, “Development and Characterization of Conductive Thermally Responsive Shape Memory Polymers for Orthodontic and Orthopaedic Applications”
Neenu Soman, “A new collagen-based scaffold for oral tissue engineering”
- Teaching interests
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Dr Paterson's teaching curriculum includes Dental Materials, with a particular focus on composite and glass ionomer cement materials, for both undergraduate and master's students. He also teaches Tissue Engineering, Introduction to Biomaterials, and Polymers as Biomaterials. He leads the BSc Research Placement Programme and is the programme lead for the BSc in Bio-Dental Science and Technology.