Young Innovators Success Stories: Amelia Seifalian, NanoRegMed, London

London-based Amelia Seifalian is a qualified doctor working in the NHS and training to be a gynaecologist. Her business, NanoRegMed, develops innovative materials and components for use in a wide variety of healthcare applications.

The 25 year-old won the Young Innovators Award for her work in developing a novel graphene-based surgical implant using stem cell technology. It is designed to be used in surgery for female pelvic organ prolapse, a condition which affects one in every two women worldwide.

Clinical trials

Amelia’s idea was in the early research stages when she joined the Young Innovators programme. She remembers spending most of her time in the lab working on the first prototypes.

During the last year, she’s made major progress in developing her product. She’s successfully created a prototype and conducted feasibility studies to assess its viability.

The next step will be to further investigate the safety of the material and test it under Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions.

“Early feasibility studies at the lab at Imperial College London have been successful, but research remains in the early stages. The product will need to be thoroughly assessed for safety. I will be applying for further funding to support the next stages of research in investigating the prototype,” Amelia says.

Research and planning

In the last 12 months, the most important areas of growth for Amelia have been understanding the business side of research and planning for further funding.

“I now have a well-established understanding of the steps required to successfully take my product from an idea to the commercial stage,” she explains.

She highlights the programme’s support as crucial to helping her business progress. Being part of a cohort of other innovators was highly beneficial, while the funding allowed her to carry out the necessary research to improve her product.

Amelia’s ambition is to continue developing further products with the potential to revolutionise healthcare. Her advice for future Young Innovators is to utilise all the resources and opportunities that come through the Award.

“Make use of all resources available to you, including group-based and individual.”

Join us and become part of the Young Innovators community. Find out more about the programme here.

Read the other Young Innovators’ success stories here.