The Advanced Materials in Medicine (AMM) Seminars focus on multidisciplinary projects and facilities at the University of Manchester, which discover new advanced materials and their uses to address unmet biological and clinical needs. Each hybrid seminar consists of short talks over 1 hour. The seminar welcomes anyone with an interest in advanced materials used in clinical settings.

Previous seminars

19 June 2024 AMM Seminar

Title: “Developing in vitro models of early stage lung adenocarcinoma to study lung carcinogenesis”.

Ms Emmanouela Mitta, PhD Student. Henry Royce Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Emmanouela Mitta is a final year PhD student in the Henry Royce Institute at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Professor Sarah Cartmell. She completed her BSc in Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester and MRes in Translational Medicine at the University of Manchester. Since her undergraduate degree she undertook wet lab and computational projects in cancer research in the fields of colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer. Her research interests include soft tissue engineering and lung tumourigenesis and has experience in molecular and cell biology techniques as well as biomaterial development. She has been selected to present posters and give lightning talks and oral presentations in several conferences including the Early Detection of Cancer Conference, the CRUK Lung Cancer Conference, the Tissue and Cell Engineering Society (TCES) and TERMIS-EU Chapter Conference from which her abstract was published in Tissue Engineering Part A journal. Outside of her PhD project she has gained experience as a graduate teaching assistant, participated in several science communication projects, acted as a member of the organising committee for a department showcase symposium and co-delivered a masterclass on biomechanical testing.

Title: “In vitro 3D models using synthetic and natural materials”.

Dr Olga Tsigkou, Lecturer in Biomaterials. Department of Materials. Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Dr Olga Tsigkou is a Lecturer of Biomaterials at the Department of Materials, University of Manchester. She received her PhD from Imperial College London where she was exploring the effect of bioactive glass dissolution products on bone formation. She then did postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School and MGH and Imperial College exploring the vascularization of engineered tissues. During her MC IE Fellowship she started working on the development of in vitro models for pharmaceutical assessment. Her research focuses predominantly on the application of stem cells, 3D porous scaffolds, and hydrogels for bone tissue regeneration. Her research interests also include 3D in vitro tissue modelling of disease, cell-substrate interactions, and vascularization strategies of engineered tissues.

17 May 2024 AMM Seminar

Title: “Soft electronics for kinder science: Skin-compliant devices for electrophysiology“.

Mr Liam Johnson, PhD Student and CEO/Founder of MouseAble. Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.

Liam is a biomedical engineer with an interest in advanced electrophysiology devices, with flexible and soft form-factors. He is a member of the Non-invasive Bioelectronic Systems Lab in the Henry Royce Institute and CEO of the start-up ‘MouseAble’, an award winning spin-out from his PhD at the University of Manchester. His company MouseAble uses advanced electronics and materials to improve the wellbeing of animals in research, including a non-invasive system for monitoring rodent physiology. This technology aims to reduce reliance on surgically implanted devices in pre-clinical science and empower researchers to be more humane, efficient and ambitious when planning experiments. Liam also has experience working with a wide range of animals in science, leading to a strong understanding of the trends, policy and technologies at play in this market.

Title: “Microfluidic model of micro-haemodynamics”.

Prof Anne Juel, Professor in fluid dynamics, University of Manchester

Anne Juel is Professor of Physics of Fluids at the University of Manchester and has been the Director of the Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics since 2014. She obtained her D.Phil from Oxford University in 1998 and was a post-doctoral fellow at UT Austin and Manchester before her appointment to a faculty position at the University of Manchester in 2001. Her research focuses on wetting, yield and slip phenomena, multiphase flow and instabilities, fluid-structure interaction, and biomimetic microfluidic models. She was elected to a Fellowship of the American Physical Society in 2019.

17 April 2024 AMM Seminar

Title: “Addressing printability challenges for 3D bioprinting soft tissue mimic“.

Sophia Read, PhD Student (CDT ABM) at the Henry Royce Institute, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (FSE)

Sophia is a final year bioengineering PhD student principally based at the Henry Royce Institute, The University of Manchester. Prior to her doctoral studies, Sophia completed an Integrated Master’s degree in Chemistry at The University of Sheffield before joining the Centre of Doctoral Training in Advanced Biomedical Materials (ABM CDT) in September 2019. Under the supervision of Dr Marco Domingos, Sophia’s research focuses on developing novel polysaccharide-based hydrogel formulations tailored for 3D bioprinting applications, with particular emphasis on those for cartilage tissue engineering. More specifically, her work has investigated means to improve the printability of low-viscosity inks, in addition to synthesising new photocurable bioinks that can support the chondrogenic differentiation of stem cells.

Title: “Microfluidic model of micro-haemodynamics”.

Prof Anne Juel, Professor in fluid dynamics, University of Manchester

Anne Juel is Professor of Physics of Fluids at the University of Manchester and has been the Director of the Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics since 2014. She obtained her D.Phil from Oxford University in 1998 and was a post-doctoral fellow at UT Austin and Manchester before her appointment to a faculty position at the University of Manchester in 2001. Her research focuses on wetting, yield and slip phenomena, multiphase flow and instabilities, fluid-structure interaction, and biomimetic microfluidic models. She was elected to a Fellowship of the American Physical Society in 2019.

20 March 2024 AMM Seminar

Title: “Circadian regulation of collagen and implications on biomaterials”.

Dr Joan Chang, Research Fellow. Division of Molecular and Cellular Function (FBMH).

Joan completed her undergraduate studies at Imperial College London (Biochemistry), followed by a PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, investigating how LOXL2 mediates cancer metastasis under the tutelage of Dr Janine Erler. Joan then briefly worked with Dr Andrew Dudley (UNC Chapel Hill, USA) on how adipocytes influence cancer microenvironment, before moving to University of Manchester, where she worked with Prof Karl Kadler investigating how circadian rhythm controls collagen-I homeostasis. In 2022, Joan started her own lab with an MRC Career Development Award, investigating the intracellular and intercellular molecular mechanisms that controls collagen-I trafficking in health and disease.

Title: “Biomaterials to Store Biologics Better”.

Prof Matthew Gibson, Chair of Sustainable Biomaterials. Department of Chemistry and Manchester Institute of Biotechnology.

Matt holds a Chair in Sustainable Biomaterials at the University of Manchester, UK. He was previously (2009-2023) an Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at the University Warwick UK. Matt was a Royal Society Industry Fellow with Cytiva (2019-2023), holds an ERC Consolidator Grant, and is co-founder of the biotech spin-out Cryologyx Ltd. Matt has been awarded several prizes including the McBain, Dextra and MacroGroup Young Researcher’s medals as well prizes from the American Chemical Society, and an RSC Horizon Prize for ‘Team Ice’. Professor Gibson’s multidisciplinary research group focusses on developing new materials to address challenges in Biotechnology and Healthcare with a particular focus on cryobiology. 

More information: Gibson Group

21 February 2024 AMM Seminar

Title: “Exploring the application of organoid technology in nanotoxicity and beyond”.

Dr Rahaf Issa, Research Associate/ Division of Cell Matrix Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

Rahaf is a post-doctoral research associate in the Nano-Cell Biology Lab at the Centre for Nanotechnology in Medicine (FBMH). Her research focuses on the development of advanced in vitro models for toxicity assessment of nanomaterials. As part of the EU Graphene Flagship project, Rahaf developed a hESC-derived lung organoid nanomaterial exposure model and validated its suitability using graphene oxide and multi-walled carbon nanotube exposures. Rahaf is currently working on PLASTICHEAL, an EU-funded project that aims to develop tools to study the impact and mode of action of micro/nanoplastics on human health. She is also involved in developing organoid models that better recapitulate glioblastoma in vitro.

Title: “Biophysics, Metabolism, Tissue Morphogenesis – using 2D and 3D bio-fabrication techniques”.

Dr John-Robert Davis, Research Fellow, Division of Molecular and Cellular Function.

John-Robert joined the University of Manchester in October 2022 where he has been establishing the Hungry Tissue lab on a Wellcome ISSF and a Dean’s prize fellowship. The Hungry Tissue lab is interested in understanding how metabolism and nutrients impact how tissues generate their shape during morphogenesis. To examine this question the Hungry Tissue lab employ biofabrication techniques to mimic 2D and 3D morphogenesis as well as Drosophila embryogenesis as model systems.

Related