Dr Ian Holland

Innovation project

Ian’s Fellowship centres around the signature technology Rotational Internal Flow Layer Engineering (RIFLE). This innovation creates ultra-thin layers of human cells in tube-like structures that could be used to develop lifelike tubular tissue such as blood vessels and intestines for lab research. While existing methods of biofabrication can lack the detail needed to mimic these complex structures, RIFLE is a fast and low-cost alternative capable of work to a very small scale.

The ability to economically create layered tissue has clear potential as an important model for drug development and a viable alternative to animal models. Accurate human models of intestinal tissue, for example, could allow companies to monitor how oral medications are absorbed in the gut. Scientists have been able to demonstrate the efficacy of RIFLE’s patented technology by manufacturing cells into incredibly thin structures that mirror those seen in a human, such as the thin muscle layers that make up a blood vessel.

As the inventor of RIFLE, Ian has coordinated and led every stage of its development, secured funding, and formed collaborations with scientists across a range of disciplines including tissue, developmental and biomaterial experts With the support of Edinburgh Innovations he has brought  it to its current status as an IP protected, published technology. 

Ian is an interdisciplinary bioengineer and the inventor of RIFLE. He has taken a non-traditional career path, moving into academia from an industry role where he commercialised products for multinational medical and pharmaceutical organisations. This experience of leading and managing projects will be an asset to Ian as he works towards creating commercial and research impacts from his RIFLE technology.

During his Innovation Fellowship, Ian intends to expand RIFLE’s tissue portfolio by developing vascular, skin and intestinal layer tissue types that surpass the accuracy of existing in-vitro models. It is anticipated that tissue created using the RIFLE technology will become an alternative for commercial and academic researchers who are currently reliant on animal experimental models. This aim aligns with the wider University objective to reduce animal usage in research through the principles of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).