I am a cell and tissue engineer with an interest in the development of biomimetic, in-vitro models of musculoskeletal tissues. I am currently working as a postdoctoral research associate at Keele University.

My PhD, which was awarded in 2020, centred on the investigation of several factors that are suspected to influence cartilage repair in the knee, and was split between the lab and the clinic. The main focus of the lab-based research was the development of a novel, in vitro co-culture model to investigate the interaction between the subchondral bone and articular cartilage. The model consisted of 2D and 3D elements and was used to successfully demonstrate that the behaviour of healthy chondrocytes could be modulated by indirect co-culture with MSCs isolated from subchondral bone that demonstrated varying degrees of degeneration. In the clinic, research was focused on investigating the relationship between activity levels and knee function in patients that were undergoing rehabilitation following cell-based cartilage repair. We were able to demonstrate that the relationship between activity levels and knee function varied between patients and that some of this variation could be explained by the patients’ subjective experience of emotion, a construct termed, ’effect’. Most interestingly, we found that the patients’ effect score was the best predictor of the functional outcome of cell-based cartilage repair, even when adjusted for previously reported predictors such as age, gender and BMI.

Since then, I have been working on several projects focusing on the contribution of the synovium to the health and disease of the knee joint. In one project I have been investigating the polarisation of synovial macrophages in early- and late-stage osteoarthritis to characterise their role in disease progression. I have also been collaborating with a number of centres to decellularise human synovium extracellular matrix for repopulation with pathogenic human macrophages to investigate cell-matrix interactions.

I will soon be moving to Queen Mary University of London, where I will be working with Dr Clare Thompson to develop disease-relevant, in vitro models of the human synovium, built upon her synovium-on-a-chip model. We plan to develop early- and late-stage OA synovium-on-a-chip models by introducing relevant primary synovial fibroblasts and macrophages. Subsequently, we will use these models to assess the response of the synovium, at these disease stages, to biologically relevant disease and treatment stimuli.

Now working at Queen Mary University of London - Profile