We are delighted to share that Dr Aalia Rehman successfully passed her PhD viva on 12 December 2025, subject to minor corrections.

Her thesis, titled “3D Perfused Bioreactor for Modelling Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Behaviour and Bone Tissue Engineering”, was examined by Prof Francis Hughes (King’s College London) and Dr Jerry Tsang (Queen Mary University of London, Bart’s Health NHS Trust). The work explores the capabilities of a ‘Tissue in a Tube’ in vitro perfusion bioreactor model of bone healing, for use either as an in vitro model to support the development of orthobiologic biomaterials, or as a technology for the generation of autologous tissue.

Aalia’s PhD project was funded by an Industrial Case Award from the EPSRC and Baxter/Apatech in Elstree, as part of a long-standing collaborative relationship between Prof Karin Hing and Baxter, supporting Aalia to further develop the Tissue in a Tube model as a first-line animal-free biomaterials optimisation and screening tool, and a device for expanding autologous cells within their own extracellular matrix.

Aalia’s success is a testament to her creativity and critical problem-solving skills, strong technical competence, extensive knowledge, and excellent work ethic. She has been a highly valued member of the Biomaterials and Tissue Regeneration Research Group, always ready and willing to support her colleagues.

Many congratulations to Dr Rehman — we are excited to see what she will accomplish in the future.