Hydrogels: Antimicrobial Characteristics, Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery Vehicle

With the advancement in medicinal chemistry and material science, several highly specific, biocompatible and non-toxic therapeutic agents have been discovered and successfully applied for various clinical applications. Many of the conventional constraints of clinical therapies have been replaced and overcome by the multifaceted applications of material science and nanotechnology. Recently, material science-based therapeutic agents are the major global pharmaceutical market and are believed to mount exponentially shortly.

Among the various therapeutic agents, hydrogels are one of the most widely applied materials used in the treatment of various diseases, and one of the most diverse materials that are used for multipurpose applications. Hydrogels were the first biomaterials used for Human being. Hydrogels are polymeric linkages, water-insoluble, however, sometimes established as a colloidal gel in water. Hydrogels are the superabsorbent materials because it can absorb more than 90% water, and hence regarded as natural living tissue. Mechanically strong hydrogels were synthesized by the advent of new synthetic strategies. Owing to the swollen properties, three-dimensional polymer network, and strong mechanical characteristics, these are widely used in catalysis, adsorption, drug delivery systems for proteins, contact lenses, wound dressings, wound healing, bone regeneration, tissue engineering, baby diapers, food rheology, and many others. Due to their diverse applications, hydrogels are considered one of the smartest materials in pharmaceutics, and are eco-friendly materials, cheap, and have good recyclability. They are used as therapeutic agents in different health sectors. As they are very sensitive to target, therefore it is considered favorite and preferred choice in biomedical sectors. Patients are psychologically scared of surgeries regarding huge expenses and failure. So researchers are working on hydrogels as alternative surgical replacement. In most cases, they have successfully achieved research on hydrogels in bones and tissues repairment. It might be hope of life for serious patients in future. The domain of this work will cover state of the art potentials and applications in various technological areas.

Dr. Khan is currently working as a post-doctoral fellow in the Urology Department at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Guibin Xu. His research is the design and development of a biodegradable polymer ureteral stent.
Before joining the post-doctoral position, he served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan. Dr. Khan also spent 4 years as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Swabi before joining NUST.
Dr. Khan completed his Ph.D. from the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Material Research, Department of Chemistry at King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia in 2017. In the year 2018, he was awarded the best PhD research thesis award in the Natural Sciences category by King Abdulaziz University. He is an MS and Ph.D. approved supervisor by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
His research expertise includes bio-organic chemistry and material sciences. He is the editor of the books “Nanotherapeutics Strategies and New Pharmaceuticals Part 1 and 2” published by Bentham Sciences. He has published 85 publications with a cumulative impact factor of over 400 and a Google Scholar h-index of 30. Furthermore, Dr. Khan successfully completed several projectsawarded by the National and International funding agencies.
Readers may contact him at: shahid.ali@sns.nust.pk

Abdur Rauf, PhD, works at the Department of Chemistry, University of Swabi, KP, Pakistan. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan in 2015. His research focuses on Phytochemistry and Pharmacology, particularly with bio-guided isolation of new compounds for drug discovery. His research interest includes isolation and structure elucidation of bioactive compounds using several innovative techniques followed by in vitro and in vivo biological screening. Dr. Abdur Rauf is the author and co-author of more than 400 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals (Impact factor = 1250.54), with 11900 citations as per the Google Scholar report. In addition, he has an H-index of 54 and an i10 index of 246 (Google Scholar). He has also written 40 book chapters for international Book publishers and two national and two international patents for the discovery of novel antidiabetic drugs. Furthermore, He is the Associate Editor/Editorial Board member of Frontier in Pharmacology, Biocell, Green Processing and Synthesis, and Medicinal Chemistry, among others. He is also a fellow of the American Chemical Society and Bioconlab Oral State University, Russia. He has supervised two PhD and four MPhil students. Dr. Abdur Rauf has won the Young Scientist Award from the Directorate of Science and Technology KP, Pakistan in 2018 and the Research Productivity Award for 2016-17, from the Pakistan Science Foundation.

Readers may contact him at: mashaljcs@yahoo.com

Dr. Guibin Xu, Professor, Chief Physician, Doctoral Supervisor, and Postdoctoral Mentor at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in the Department of Urology, Guangzhou, China. Former Postdoctoral Fellow at Texas A&M Health Science Center and Senior Visiting Scholar at the University of California, USA.

He has been honored as the First Outstanding Young Medical Talent in Guangdong Province recipient of the Yunnan Youth May Fourth Medal in China, and recognized as a talent under the 'Thousand Hundred Ten Talents Program' in Guangdong Province, an outstanding young teacher cultivated by the Education Guangdong Province, and being designated as a key healthcare professional by the Health Commission of Guangzhou City, China.

With extensive experience in clinical practice and research within urology, his expertise lies specifically in urinary system strictures, prostate diseases, urethral stones, and urological tumors. He is particularly skilled in minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), ureteroscopy techniques, and endoscopic treatment for ureteral strictures. Overseeing more than 10 national natural science foundation projects and provincial-level scientific research projects has allowed him to publish over 40 professional academic papers while holding six national patents.

He was also involved in editing the book "Ureteral Surgery" (second edition) in China. Currently, he is also the chairman of the Minimally Invasive Urology Branch of the Guangzhou Medical Association; a member of the lithology Group of the Urological Surgeons Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, standing member of Urological Surgeons Branch of the Guangdong Medical Doctor Association, Deputy Chairman of Translational Medicine Branch of Guangdong Urogenital Association.

Readers may contact him at: uro_xgb@163.com

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