Interview: Nanosilicon for Nanomedicine: A Step Towards Biodegradable Electronic Implants?

Abstract

Leigh Canham received his BSc degree in physics from University College London (London, UK) in 1979 and his PhD in solid state physics from King‘s College London (London, UK). He now has over 30 years of experience conducting research on widely differing aspects of silicon technology. Two key personal discoveries – that nanostructured silicon can emit visible light efficiently (1990) and can be rendered medically biodegradable (1995) – have had significant academic (>15,000 citations) and commercial (multiple companies created) impact. Professor Canham is a scientist who is devoted to finding novel properties and uses for semiconductors that already pervade our everyday lives. He has 13 years of experience of start up company management, right through from cofounding with seed venture capital finance to NASDAQ listing. He has served on the board of two companies based in England, UK, one in Singapore and one in Australia. Since 1999, he has held an Honorary Professorship at the School of Physics, University of Birmingham (Birmingham, UK) for his work on luminescent silicon. In 2011, Leigh was a shortlisted finalist for the European Inventor of the Year Award from the European Patent Office for his work on biodegradable silicon. In 2012, he became a Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate for his work on luminescent silicon. Professor Canham has authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers and has more than 100 granted patents worldwide.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of Future Medicine Ltd.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

L Canham is the cofounder and an employee of pSiMedica Ltd, UK, and a shareholder in pSivida Inc. Work on this interview was not supported by pSiMedica Ltd or pSivida Inc. Research at pSiMedica Ltd is supported by pSivida Inc. L Canham has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

L Canham is the cofounder and an employee of pSiMedica Ltd, UK, and a shareholder in pSivida Inc. Work on this interview was not supported by pSiMedica Ltd or pSivida Inc. Research at pSiMedica Ltd is supported by pSivida Inc. L Canham has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.