Hamish Laing, honorary secretary of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and consultant plastic surgeon at the Welsh Centre for Burnsand Plastic Surgery, said it was a novel idea to make artificial skin that would not only cover the wound but actively fight infection.
He said the research would work across the range of wounds clinicians treat from trauma, burnsand post-surgery complications to chronic conditions such as ulcers and diabetes complications.
Prof Whitaker has worked in plastic surgery in the USA and Australia, after initially learning his craft at the Welsh burns centre at Swansea's Morriston Hospital.