Researcher awarded £10k grant to make hospitals safer

A researcher from the University of Huddersfield has been awarded a £10,000 grant to develop a unique approach to the testing of the antibacterial wipes used in hospitals to reduce the risk of deadly ‘superbugs’.

Dr Paul Humphreys of the School of Applied Sciences was successful in his application to the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship, and will become a Fellow in January 2009. He proposes to use the grant to develop a way of assessing the ‘biocidal’ wipes that are used in hospitals all over the world to fight against potentially-fatal infections, such as MRSA and C. difficile.

“At the moment there is little consistency between different ‘biocidal’ wipes,” explains Paul. “There are a lot of claims about different wipes being able to kill a certain percentage of bacteria, but because there is no systematic way of testing them, it’s hard to substantiate such claims. Some wipes are far more effective than others, but because there are so many variables that affect the way they’re used – for example, how much pressure is applied, how fast it is used – it’s impossible to know which ones work and which don’t. My research will enable people to see just how effective a certain product is, leading to better controls and safer hospitals. ”

The Enterprise Fellowship is designed to help researchers commercialise ideas and research findings and create a business based on this research. Building on the highly successful Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship scheme, launched in 2004, this new initiative from Yorkshire Forward offers practical support to university researchers in the key areas of Bioscience, Healthcare Technologies and Chemicals.

Paul Humphreys is a microbiologist who joined the University in 2003, following fifteen years of working within applied microbiology. He has spent most of his professional life in the industry, running large-scale research projects, including working for the UN and EU. He is currently lecturing in food and medical microbiology, bioremediation and infection control.