The Scar Free Foundation at the AMRC Medical Research Charity Showcase Published: 6 February 2025 By The Scar Free Foundation When’s it worth taking a £50,000 bioprinter on a 370-mile round trip? When you’re heading to the AMRC Medical Research Charity Showcase 2025! The Scar Free Foundation was honoured to not only be invited to the AMRC Showcase at the House of Commons, but to be one of five charities asked to present their research interactively. So, what did we do? We printed 3D ears to a live audience of MPs and Peers, of course. As the only charity dedicated to improving the prevention and treatment of scarring, for everyone, it felt fantastic for our work to be recognised in this way by AMRC – and to have the chance to highlight the vital work we fund at 3D Bioface. At the moment, patients who have missing ears can chose between uncomfortable prosthetics or surgery to remove cartilage from elsewhere on the body to reconstruct the missing body part, which is painful, invasive, and causes further scarring. But the 3D Bioface team are doing things a little differently. The researchers have developed a unique type of ‘bio-ink’ which encourages cartilage to grow. Combined with cells from the patient, the scientists can 3D-print a scaffold the size and shape of the body part that’s missing. Eventually, the patient’s cells will fill in the scaffold, leaving researchers with a custom ear or nose that can be surgically implanted into the patient. The tissue sample needed to make the bio-ink is tiny (about the size of a hole punch) and means patients can avoid surgery, which in turn leads to more scarring. Ears and noses could also be customised to match the patient’s features, helping patients adapt to having an altered appearance. Bringing this technology into a clinical setting will have a huge impact in the field of facial reconstruction. You never know when scarring may change your life – and it is always more than skin deep. Many of our Ambassadors raise awareness around how scarring affects how you grow, smile, talk, eat, touch, move, and age: elements of life that many of us may take for granted. Our mission to achieve scar free healing within a generation is possible by funding cutting-edge medical research, which brings concepts and ideas into the lab and on to production. AMRC member medical research charities invested £1.7 billion into UK research in 2023. It’s this medical research which is keeping us healthier for longer, and introducing innovative ways to approach physical and psychological treatments. Attending Showcases such as these not only offers medical research charities the opportunity to explain the wide-ranging benefits of their work, but forges a bond between the organisations that exist to improve current medical options and get help to those who need it most. A huge thank you to the AMRC for having us! Images: Charlotte Coates Manage Cookie Preferences