Dr Darren Campbell

Profile, Research interests, Qualifications, Employment, Teaching activity, Membership of Professional Bodies / outside interests, Selected publications

Phone number: 0121 204 3404, Email: d.campbell1@aston.ac.uk, Room number: MB125

Darren is currently managing and participating on several different projects within the Biomaterials Research Unit (BRU). These projects include both short and long term, private and publicly funded work. Several of the projects have involved work which should lead to the generation of intellectual property for the involved companies and/or the University. Darren graduated from Aston University in 2003 with a Class II(i) BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry and was awarded his PhD in 2009 (Aston University,  supervisor Professor B.J. Tighe). Prior to 1998 Darren worked in the metal finishing industry.

Research interests 

• polymeric biomaterials
• biocompatible (co)polymers
• biomimetic (co)polymers
• hydrogels
• prepolymers (macromers)
• hydrogel/biofilm interactions
• the tear film

Darren’s research interests include the synthesis, characterisation and behaviour (in-vitro, in-vivo and ex-vivo) of novel biocompatible and biomimetic (co)polymers. Of particular interest are prepolymers (macromers) and hydrogels. Applications of interest for these polymers include ophthalmic, tissue repair/replacement and drug delivery. The interaction (in-vitro, in-vivo and ex-vivo) of biological species (particularly lipids) with these and other hydrogels is particularly important for biomaterials and is also a research interest. This is in line with the theme of the Biomaterials Research Unit (BRU) where the research is interdisciplinary and involves interaction with relevant Universities and industrial companies. Darren’s PhD thesis, Tear and Skin Phospholipids; Analysis and Hydrogel Analogues, and his general involvement in BRU have led to an interest in the chemistry of tear film, in particular the phospholipids found in the lipid layer. Darren is a member of the ARCHA  'Ageing Eye’ and 'Medicines and Devices in Ageing' research clusters and of the Biomaterials Research Unit.

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Selected publications

Campbell D, Carnell S.M and Eden R.J. Applicability of contact angle methods used in the analysis of contact lenses, Part 1: Comparative methodologies. Eye and Contact Lens: Science and Clinical Practice, 2013, 39, 3, 254-262.

Sohdi A.A, Campbell D, Topham P.D. Polymer-peptide conjugate hydrogels: Towards controlled drug delivery. Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 2012, 39, 3, 351-372.

Tighe B.J, Bramhill J, Campbell D.C. Proteoglycan analogues for ophthalmic and orthopaedic applications, Advanced Materials Research, 2012, 506, 3-6.

Campbell D, Mann A, Hunt O, Santos L.J.R. The significance of hand wash compliance on the transfer of dermal lipids in contact lens wear, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2012, 35, 71-76.

Campbell D, Griffiths G, Tighe B.J. Tear Analysis and Lens-tear Interactions: Part II. Ocular Lipids - Nature and Fate of Meibomian Gland Phospholipids, Cornea, 2011, 30, 3, 325-332.

Campbell D, Carnell S.M, Ross G.M, Tighe B.J. Another angle on contact lens surface analysis, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2010, 33, 284.

Tighe B.J, Panaser A, Franklin V, Campbell D. Tear film lipids: Dynamic composition and clinical performance, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2009, 32, 237-238.

Mann A, Mahomed A, Campbell D, Tighe B.J. Comparative performance of analytical techniques for polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) in ophthalmic solutions, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2009, 32, 250-251.

Campbell D, Tighe B.J. Zwitterionic and Charge-balanced Polyampholyte Copolymer Hydrogels, Advanced Materials Research, 2008, 55-57, 729-732.

Campbell D, Mann A, Ross G, Hunt O, Tighe B.J. The effect of care solutions on the bulk and surface properties of soft contact lenses, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2008, 31, 256.

Campbell D, Tighe B.J. Properties of SPDA: A biomimetic building block, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 2006, 29, 203.

Campbell D, Griffiths G, Tighe B.J. Compositional dynamics of phospholipids in the tear film, Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica, 2006, 84, Supplement 239, 86.

Mann A, Campbell D, Griffiths G, Tighe B.J. The Nature and Fate of Lipids in Contact Lens Wear, Ophthalmic Research Journal for Research in Experimental and Clinical Ophthalmology, 2005, Volume 37, Supplement 1, 26, Poster 235.

Mann A.M, Campbell D, Tighe B.J. The Application of Capillary Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Techniques to the Study of patient to patient variations in Tear Chemistry, Ophthalmic Research Journal for Research in Experimental and Clinical Ophthalmology, 2004, Volume 36, Supplement 1, 34, Poster 165.