Centre for Bioengineering

News

BioMedEng23 Conference Highlights the Pioneering Work of Queen Mary Bioengineering 21 September 2023 At the recently concluded BioMedEng23 conference, Queen Mary Bioengineering showcased its prowess and contributions to UK Biomedical Engineering. The two-day event, organised by The Association of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers, and Bioengineers (BioMedEng Association), highlighted remarkable advances in and around the UK biomedical sector. Prof Karin Hing Awarded the Prestigious … [more]

Knight group present organ-chip research at the BioMedEng conference 15 September 2023 The research group enjoyed the excellent BioMedEng conference in Swansea and contributed lots of great talks on our organ-chip work here at Queen Mary and the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models. Dr Tim Hopkins presented his research on the development of both a vascularised synovium organ-chip and a growth-plate … [more]

QMUL Celebrates Student Achievements at IMechE Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards 14 September 2023 This week six of the Biomedical Engineering students from the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London were selected to present at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards event, held at One Birdcage Walk, London. The university’… [more]

Professor Liz Tanner made an Honorary Member of the European Society for Biomaterials 7 September 2023 Professor Liz Tanner has been elected an Honorary Member of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) at their conference in Davos Switzerland. According to the Statutes of the ESB "Honorary membership can be awarded to any person who has given the Society particularly meritorious services or who has … [more]

Sir Colin Humphreys appears on BBC Radio 4's "The Life Scientific" 29 August 2023 On Tuesday 29th August Professor Sir Colin Humphreys was Professor Jim Al-Khalili's guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme "The Life Scientific". Colin discussed his work as a materials scientist and engineer, his use of electron microscopy and of course about his work on graphene, the world's … [more]

SEMS researchers win first Kidney Research UK MedTech Competition 9 August 2023 Kidney Research UK (KRUK) launched its first MedTech competition recently, specifically designed to support the use of technology to improve patients’ lives. This new approach to investing in innovative research is designed to help researchers learn the necessary steps to get their products from concept to patients. A shortlist … [more]

PhD Congratulations! 27 July 2023 Congratulations to Rebecca Norton and Gamalendira Shivapathem who both graduated in our SEMS ceremonies this week, after completing their PhDs earlier in the year. Gamalendira completed a PhD entitled "Investigating Human Achilles Tendon Biomechanics Using Novel Ultrasound Imaging" with Professor Hazel Screen and Professor Dylan Morrissey and is … [more]

Queen Mary's Innovative Digital Health Collaboration Workshop: A Landmark Confluence of Minds in Healthcare AI 18 July 2023 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), University College London and Imperial College London. hosted a successful Multi-scale & Multi-modality Digital Health Collaboration Workshop on Tuesday, 18th July. Supported by the local organising team of QMUL's Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI) and Centre for Bioengineering, this event brought together an … [more]

Organ-chip research presented at Centre for Predictive in vitro Models Workshop 18 July 2023 Dr Tim Hopkins gave an excellent presentation of some of the work in the Knight group, developing organ-chip models of bone, cartilage and synovium. The presentation was part of a workshop held by the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models to showcase the variety of organ-chip and other in vitro … [more]

Soft Robotics Revolutionise Minimally Invasive Surgery 13 July 2023 Professor Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science has made groundbreaking advancements in the field of soft robotics for minimally invasive surgery An overview paper, published in the Science journal today, explores Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical robots, including Professor Althoefer’s scientific … [more]

"Electronic skin" from bio-friendly materials can track human vital signs with ultrahigh precision 28 June 2023 Queen Mary University and University of Sussex researchers have used materials inspired by molecular gastronomy to create smart wearables that surpassed similar devices in terms of strain sensitivity They integrated graphene into seaweed to create nanocomposite microcapsules for highly tunable and sustainable epidermal electronics. When assembled into networks, the tiny … [more]

Celebrating the Inspiring Women Engineers at QMUL 23 June 2023 On International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June 2023, we celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of Women In Engineering worldwide, who tirelessly contribute to improving and saving lives. This year, we turn our attention to the exceptional female engineers at the School of Engineering and Materials Science. These women embody the qualities … [more]

Organ-chip bioengineers featured in new science education centre 13 June 2023 Great to see the launch of the new Centre Of The Cell pod featuring some of our organ-on-a-chip bioengineering researchers. The Centre of the Cell is an award winning, inspiring children's science education centre at Queen Mary. Our organ-on-a-chip research is also being featured in some of the live … [more]

SEMS Bioengineering at Queen Mary's Festival of Communities 12 June 2023 Cutting-Edge Science and Engineering Research Showcase RoboCare: Innovations in Healthcare and Assisted Living Dr. Thilina Dulantha Lalitharatne’s team showcased RoboCare, illustrating the potential of robotic technologies in healthcare and assisted living. Visitors interacted with assistive robots, Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and discovered how they can enhance the quality of … [more]

Intercalated Symposium - Celebrating 8 Years 30 May 2023 Opportunities in STEMM Medical students presented research alongside leading scientists and engineers from the Centre of Bioengineering. Presentations covered multiple disciplines in machine learning, cardiovascular disease, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, cancer, medical robotics, fetal medicine and environmental health. In particular, understanding how exposure to harmful pollutants in air, water or soil affects … [more]

Karin Hing and Jonathon Hills are Both Recognised at the Inaugural Queen Mary Research and Innovation Awards 25 May 2023 Congratulations to Dr Karin Hing who has been awarded the Research Impact (enterprise and commercial innovation) Prize at the Inaugural Queen Mary Research and Innovation Award Ceremony held on the 25th May at the Law Society. Her award was in recognition for her pioneering work on synthetic bone graft substitutes. … [more]

Success in Faculty of Science and Engineering's BAME Undergraduate Research Internships 24 May 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) has been successful in securing a BAME undergraduate research studentship for a summer internship research project to be undertaken by first year BEng Mechanical Engineering student Mr Ismail Moalin, under the joint supervision of Dr Rehan Shah and Prof Henri Huijberts from … [more]

New research identifies which cells in horses' tendons are affected by ageing, leading to injury 23 May 2023 A group of researchers including Queen Mary Professor Hazel Screen have been exploring what causes tendon damage in horses and have discovered that a particular region of the tendon called the interfascicular matrix (IFM) seems to be the source of ageing changes. As horse and human tendons are similar, these … [more]

Bioengineering - a secret success story 22 May 2023 Bioengineers save babies' lives When soft tissues like fetal membranes weaken too early, the waters break and the baby is born prematurely. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London and University College London are investigating the causes of preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes. A twelve-year journey in multi-disciplinary … [more]

Dr Ravinash Krishna Kumar Awarded £1.8m ESPRC Fellowship 10 May 2023 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is delighted to announce that Dr Ravinash Krishna Kumar, a Lecturer in Medical Technology from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, has been awarded a prestigious £1.8 million, 5-year EPSRC Open Plus Fellowship. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) fellowships support … [more]

SEMS runs first Industrial Workshop on Systems Engineering: toward sustainable digital systems 24 April 2023 SEMS' Systems Engineering team - led by Dr Mohammad Hassannezhad - ran an industrial workshop with focus on digital transformation, sustainability and skill gaps, on 24 April at QM's Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI). The workshop brought together a group of 17 industry practitioners from 14 different companies in eight … [more]

Congratulations to Marta Beja Ferreira who passed her PhD viva on using artificial intelligence to provide diagnostic markers for breast cancer 20 March 2023 Breast cancer is the most common cancer type that affects women and although several therapy improvements have been made in the last decades, it is still estimated that nearly 11,400 women die each year of this type of cancer in the United Kingdom alone. At early stages of the disease the … [more]

Congratulations to Huan Meng who passed his PhD on mechanical regulation of cartilage inflammation 13 March 2023 Huan's thesis examined the effect of the mechanical environment on inflammation that occurs in articular cartilage associated with joint disease such as osteoarthritis. In particular, the research examined the role of a complex signalling mechanism (termed YAP-signalling) that occurs within the cartilage cells and the involvement of specialised … [more]

Queen Mary Featured Research covers Dr Caroline Roney’s research in Cardiac Digital Twins 12 March 2023 Queen Mary Featured Research has covered Dr Caroline Roney's research in Cardiac Digital Twins, a pioneering approach to the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is the most common form of heart arrhythmia, affecting around 1.4 million people in the UK, and if not successfully treated, can lead to stroke … [more]

QM Bioengineers present at the Global MicroPhysiological Systems Day 8 March 2023 To celebrate all the amazing work being done with Organ-Chips and other microphysiological systems (MPS) in drug discovery and development, the Global MPS Day virtual symposium on March 9th 2023 is packed with presentations from the industry’s top experts and thought leaders. These internationally leading experts including Profs Robert … [more]

Dr Lei Su is named in 2023 Photonics 100 31 January 2023 Dr Lei Su is selected among the 100 honorees in ElectroOptics "Photonics 100, 2023", " the industry's most innovative people". https://www.electrooptics.com/thephotonics100

Congratulations to Nabila, Ruixin and Luoguang on passing their PhD vivas 24 January 2023 Congratulations to Nabila Naz, Ruixin Lu and Luoguang Zhao who passed their PhD vivas on the 9th, 23rd and 24th January 2023, respectively, with minor corrections. All three students are from the Biofluid Mechanics Lab led by Professors Yi Sui and Wen Wang. They have been working on topics including mechanical … [more]

SEMS' Winter Graduation 6 January 2023 The winter graduation ceremony returned to the Great Hall on the Mile End campus once again 2023. The venue was filled with a cast of hundreds of SEMS graduates and their families and friends. The largest cohort was made up our MSc students from last year, but there was a good … [more]

Megan McFie graduates with her PhD 6 January 2023 It was great to celebrate with Meg and others who graduated with PhDs from the School of Engineering and Materials Science. Meg's PhD involved conducting a confocal microscopy screen of 1700 drugs to identify compounds that regulate the length of the specialist cellular organelles known as primary cilia. The information is … [more]

Andy Lewis presented the Gold Medal by the IOM3 3 January 2023 Prof Andy Lewis was presented with the Gold Medal at an Awards Ceremony at the IOM3 on the 8th December 2022. The Gold Medal is awarded for significant contribution to the industrial application of materials. The award was given in recognition of Andy’s work developing novel drug-device combination products … [more]

Controlling the contact force between organoid and light-addressable potentiometric sensor enables highly sensitive monitoring of cardiomyocyte action potentials 21 December 2022 Monitoring of action potentials of beating cardiac cells called cardiomyocytes can give insights into physiological and disease mechanisms and aid the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, i.e., irregular heartbeats. Patch clamp measurements are the gold standard in electrophysiological measurements, but are difficult to operate … [more]

New research shows how cartilage degradation can be prevented by pharmaceutical regulation of YAP/TAZ 26 November 2022 New research has shown how cartilage inflammation, as occurs in conditions such as osteoarthritis, can be prevented by activation of the YAP/TAZ cellular pathway. The work was led by Huan Meng, a PhD student in Prof Martin Knight's group and was published in the journal 'Osteoarthritis and Cartilage': '… [more]

Engineering Better Medicine 2022 PhD cohort compete at QMUL's first 3D printing "designathon" 22 November 2022 To kickstart their journey at QMUL, the 2022 PhD cohort participated in our first 3D printing designathon. During this one-day event, the Engineering Better Medicine (EBM) cohort training programme, the virtual training program on QM plus, and various facilities and resources were introduced. However, there was more... the main purpose … [more]

Organ-chip researchers win award at Industrial Liaison Forum 21 November 2022 Congratulations to Dr Clare Thompson (Queen Mary+Emulate Centre Scientist), Dr Joanne Nolan (CRUK-EPSRC post doc) and Dr Tim Hopkins (Versus Arthritis Research Fellow), who together won the award for best research presentation at the Industrial Liaison Forum organised by the School of Engineering and Materials Science. All three are … [more]

Professor Dan Bader 18 November 2022 We are very saddened to report that Professor Dan Bader died peacefully on Saturday 5th November, 2022. Dan worked at Queen Mary University of London for over twenty years and was passionate about education, research and social mobility. Dan was a Physicist by training and started at Queen Mary as a … [more]

Pengfei successfully passed his viva with minor correction 16 November 2022 Many congratulations to Pengfei, who successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled "Deep Learning for Information Transmission through Multimode Optical Fibres". Pengfei was funded by a QMUL PhD studentship and was supervised by Dr Lei Su and Prof Kaspar Althoefer. During his PhD, Pengfei has demonstrated several novel deep-learning-based … [more]

Hematite nanorods – a promising material for photoelectrochemical sensing and imaging 10 November 2022 Hydrothermally grown hematite nanorods have been shown to be an excellent substrate for photoelectrochemical imaging and sensing. The material displayed enhanced photocurrent compared to hematite films, good stability, excellent spatial resolution and good sensitivity to pH. Coupling the hematite nanorods with a thin calcium ion selective PVC membrane, we obtained … [more]

November Prize-giving for SEMS' Taught Students 9 November 2022 At the Industrial Liaison Forum on 9th November 2022, we celebrated the achievements of some of our best taught students. Over 20 prizes were awarded by the School. These were awarded across subject and year groups and included "Academic Achievement Prizes as well as "Best Project Prizes". One "… [more]

SEMS November Industrial Liaison Forum including PhD Research Showcase and and Student Awards 9 November 2022 We were pleased to once again hold the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum live in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 9th November 2022 in the Octagon. The event was well attended by staff and students as well as industrialists. The day was broken up into five parts, starting in the … [more]

National Engineering Week 2 November 2022 Celebrating This is Engineering This is Engineering returned today as National Engineering Week to celebrate the engineers and show how engineering improve lives. We marked the event by inviting undergraduate, Intercalated and MSc students to meet the engineers and celebrate all things STEMM. Engineers improve lives Around 100 students worked … [more]

New group to advance digital twins in healthcare 19 October 2022 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London are part of a consortium of nineteen partners that will aid personalised healthcare by using virtual copies of objects. EDITH (Ecosystem for Digital Twins in Healthcare) Coordination and Support Action (CSA) – a group made up of numerous internationally renowned research institutions, professional … [more]

Rosetrees Trust celebrates 35 years at the Royal Society of Medicine 11 October 2022 Rosetrees Trust supports interdisciplinary research Rosetrees Trust is a unique medical charity working to advance interdisciplinary research in science, engineering and medicine. The charity has been funding exciting research projects to develop healthcare solutions that benefit patients and improve the lives of communities and society. After supporting 35 years of … [more]

Congratulations to Gamalendira Shivapatham - IPEM Early Career Essay Prize winner 28 September 2022 Many congratulations to our former PhD student Gamalendira Shivapatham, who has just won the 2022 IPEM/Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers Early Career Essay Prize . Gamal completed his PhD earlier this year and is now taking part in the NHS England Scientist Training Programme at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation … [more]

First single-crystal organometallic perovskite optical fibres 24 September 2022 Due to their very high efficiency in transporting electric charges from light, perovskites are known as the next generation material for solar panels and LED displays. We now have invented a brand-new application of perovskites as optical fibres. The results are published in Science Advances. Optical fibres are tiny wires … [more]

Special issue in Biological Fluid Dynamics in the journal Fluids is open for submission 11 September 2022 A new special issue in biological fluid dynamics has been announced in the journal Fluids, see https://www.mdpi.com/journal/fluids/special_issues/L22Y9LH960 For this Special Issue, we call for a wide range of papers, including those covering analytical, computational, and experimental studies of biofluids as … [more]

Engineering Better Medicine Meeting 30 August 2022 Discussion of Research, Education, Funding Opportunities and Partnerships. Every Tuesday @ 12pm on MS Teams Platform. For any enquiries, please contact: Prof. Zion Tse

Dr Timothy Hopkins receives Versus Arthritis Foundation Fellowship 29 July 2022 Dr Timothy Hopkins has been awarded a £310,000 Foundation Fellowship by Versus Arthritis to develop a human ‘joint-on-a-chip’. The aim of the fellowship is to improve understanding of how interactions between knee joint tissues contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA), and to the efficacy of treatments. OA … [more]

Pamela Swiatlowska shortlisted for Marshall Award and wins travel award for work on vascular smooth muscle cell mechanosensing 20 July 2022 Pamela Swiatlowska won a travel award to give a talk on her work on vascular smooth muscle cell mechanosensing at the 8th meeting of the invadosome consortium, 4-7 October in Sete, France. She will be also presenting her work at the Annual Meeting of the British Society of&… [more]

The Electrochemical Sensors group attends the International Workshop on Engineering Functional Interfaces (EnFI) 2022 in Maastricht 6 July 2022 Three members of our group attended the EnFI in Maastricht. The conference focuses on the field of surface engineering in its broadest sense. This rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field instigates collaborations between scientists from multiple disciplines as it contains elements from physics, engineering, biology, medicine, informatics and chemistry. Both, Rachel Jacques … [more]

Prof Martin Knight elected as the first Chair of the UK BioMedical Engineering Council 6 July 2022 Prof Martin Knight from the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has been elected as the first Chair of the UK BioMedEng Council.  The Association of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers and Bioengineers (BioMedEng Association) represents a broad field of multidisciplinary research … [more]

International Women in Engineering Day 23 June 2022 Celebrating women engineers and helping each other see our lives For years we have been celebrating the achievements of our engineers but today we wanted to do something different. We wanted to help others see who we are, help us reflect on our past and see … [more]

Two Young Investigator Awards in Prenatal Diagnosis 21 June 2022 Malcolm Ferguson-Smith Young Investigator Award Dr David Barrett presented our award winning paper "potential sealing and repair of human fetal membrane defects after trauma with peptide amphiphiles and Cx43 antisense" at the 26th International Conference on Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy in Montreal, Canada which took place between 19 and 23 … [more]

Congratulations to Gamalendira Shivapatham for passing his PhD viva! 17 June 2022 Gamal successfully completed his PhD, developing and testing new ultrasound-based imaging tools to explore tendon health and disease in the Achilles tendon. Gamal developed a specialised technique known as slip-elastography for exploring functional tendon dynamics. He subsequently tested his methods in a cohort of participants, highlighting the importance of … [more]

Queen Mary Science and Engineering researchers awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships to tackle heart irregular heart rhythms and explore turbulence in space plasma 15 June 2022 Dr Caroline Roney and Dr Christopher Chen are among 84 promising leaders awarded fellowships totalling £98 million.  The fellowships support the most promising science and research leaders to tackle major global issues and to commercialise their innovations in the UK. Professor Wen Wang, Queen Mary's … [more]

Picture an Engineer 13 June 2022 When you see an engineer, what does the picture mean to you? International photographer Michael Cockerham and the Ideas Foundation created a digital storytelling workshop at Queen Mary's Festival of Communities to help engineers see each other's worlds. The creative & culture teams built a digital arts studio … [more]

Inspiring the next generation of organ-chip scientists and bioengineers at the QMUL Festival of Communities 11 June 2022 A fantastic day at Queen Mary's Festival of Communities talking about our organs-on-chips research. There was lots of interesting conversations and interactions with local people of all ages. Our excellent team of demonstrators showed people real organ-chip models and discussed their usage in the development of new medicines. Visitors, … [more]

IOM3 awards: Queen Mary scoops up four prizes for engineering and materials science 9 June 2022 The School of Engineering and Materials Science goes from strength to strength as researchers pick up four awards and medals from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) The IOM3 presents a range of awards, medals and prizes in recognition of personal achievement, for published work and for contributions … [more]

Congratulations to the 2022 Intercalated Graduates 1 June 2022 Celebrating seven years of the Intercalated Research Symposium The Intercalated Symposium is an exciting scientific forum for medical students to present collaborative multi-disciplinary research in science, engineering and medicine. Around 60 participants joined the 2 sessions with presentations in machine learning, computational medicine, medical robotics, healthcare, nanotechnology, biomaterials and regenerative … [more]

SEMS Academics Perform Exceptionally in REF 2021 12 May 2022 The scores have been announced for REF2021. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a 7 year cycle used to measure research and determine funding in UK universities. The result for SEMS is excellent as not only have we come seventh overall in Engineering amongst all 89 universities who were being assessed in … [more]

Researchers at QMUL discuss the future of organ-on-a-chip models in new 'What is Biotechnology' article 6 May 2022 Prof Knight was interviewed, along with Prof Donald Ingber from the Weiss Institute and other leading figures working in the organ-on-a-chip technology, for a major new review article pubishished in 'What is biotechnology'. As the review explains, organs-on-a-chip are small devices designed to replicate key aspects of the physiological … [more]

New paper on vascular smooth muscle cell pressure and stiffness sensing is published in Science Advances journal 15 April 2022 Our paper on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) pressure and stiffness sensing is out in Science Advances. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially Pamela Swiatlowska and Brian Sit who are shared first authors. Our new findings show how the progression of atherosclerosis is affected by … [more]

BEng Research Project poster prize winners at ILF April 2022 6 April 2022 Selected 3rd year BEng students presented posters on their research projects at the Industrial Liaison on 6th April 2022. We had over 50 external visitors at the event from industry as well as Alumni. The posters were displayed at the Final Year Student Project Showcase in the morning, where a fantastic selection … [more]

MSc Extended Research Project poster prize winners at ILF April 2022 6 April 2022 Our MSc students presented their Extended Research Projects at the Industrial Liaison Forum on 6th April 2022. Our MSc projects run from semester 1 through to August, so they are currently only about half-way through their projects. Nonetheless, they were able to give an excellent account of their work so far and … [more]

MEng Group Project Presentation prize awarded at ILF April 2022 6 April 2022 Our MEng students presented their Research & Design Team Projects at the Industrial Liaison Forum on 6th April 2022. Our MEng students conduct team projects in their 4th year in groups of about 5 students. Currently towards the end of their projects, they were able to present a mix of prototypes, samples … [more]

SEMS Industrial Liaison Forum April 2022 6 April 2022 Our bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum was held in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 6th April 2022. We received over 50 external visitors from industry as well as Alumni. The day started with our final year student project showcase, where a fantastic selection of posters were presented by our BEng and … [more]

Dr Eleni Costa defends Doctoral thesis with two clinical experts 29 March 2022 Enormous congratulations to Eleni Costa who defended her Doctoral PhD thesis entitled "repair mechanisms in fetal membrane defects after trauma, strain and fetal surgery". Eleni is working with a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers and clinicans at SEMS (Tina Chowdhury), UCL/UCLH (Prof Anna David), KU Leuven (Prof … [more]

Connor Gains passes his PhD viva! 25 February 2022 Congratulations to Connor Gains for passing his viva on 25th February, with minor corrections. Connor was supervised by Prof Hazel Screen and Dr Thomas Iskratsch and funded through an EPSRC Industrial studentship working with TRB Chemedica, exploring different bio-lubricants for treating tendon injury. Connor is now working … [more]

SEMS Staff Receive Many Awards at the Science and Engineering Faculty Awards Ceremony. 27 January 2022 The Science and Engineering Faculty Celebration took place in the Octagon to a large assembled in person gathering and was broadcast simultaneously online to an even larger audience on the 27th January 2022. SEMS had a very large number of the awards with Andrew Spowage winning the Faculty Award for Internationalisation … [more]

450 SEMS Alumni Graduate at Tobacco Dock 18 January 2022 It was with great relief that Queen Mary University of London was able to restart in person graduation ceremonies for the first time in more than two years at Tobacco Dock in Wapping. The first celebration for the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) students was on … [more]

Prof Knight on expert panel on organ-chip models for cancer 17 November 2021 Prof Knight is excited to be speaking on an expert panel at the upcoming 10th PREDiCT: Tumour Models London Summit which is uniting preclinical and translational leaders to narrow the preclinical gap and progress efficacious candidates to the clinic. He will be presenting on 'Organ-on-a-chip Models of Bone Metastasis' and … [more]

Materials Celebrates 50 Years of Graduations 15 November 2021 50 years of Materials graduates from the Mile End Campus in London and the first cohort from Queen Mary Engineering School (QMES) at our campus at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi’an China were celebrated on Friday 5th November. 120 people gathered in the Octagon with another 45 people on-line to … [more]

New insights into the design of RNA delivery vectors 8 November 2021 What happens to gene delivery vectors when they enter the cell cytoplasm? This question had remained understudied, in particular in the case of polycationic vectors. Yet it may have a significant impact on the timing and localisation of the release of RNA or DNA molecules to be delivered. The team … [more]

Researchers uncover new evidence that fetal membranes can repair themselves after injury 18 August 2021 The integrity of the fetal membranes that surround the baby in the womb during pregnancy is vital for normal development. But fetal membranes can become damaged as a result of infection, bleeding, or after fetal surgery and even diagnostic tests during pregnancy, such as amniocentesis, which require doctors to make … [more]

Queen Mary researchers win EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call Development Phase Grant 20 July 2021 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London, clinicians from Royal London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital together with the industrial partners are awarded the Development Phase Grant of EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call, a high risk and high return initiative.  The Team, … [more]

Prof Knight on expert panel discussing the use of animals in science 5 July 2021 Prof Martin Knight was part of an expert panel at the 'lead the debate' event organised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). The event was the second in the series, which aims to convene small groups of thought leaders on prominent topics affecting … [more]

Two new papers on multi-cellular in vitro models of ovarian cancer published in iScience 23 June 2021 We have recently published two new papers in the journal iScience, which describe the development of novel multi-cellular in vitro models of ovarian cancer and the use of these models to better understand this disease. The work stems from a major European Research Council grant, CANBUILD, which was led … [more]

New organ-on-a-chip study demonstrates how physical exercise regulates bone metastasis in breast and prostate cancer 17 June 2021 Bioengineers at Queen Mary publish a new study in the journal Cancers which demonstrates the significant impact of physiological mechanical loading on bone metastasis in breast and prostate cancer.  The paper describes a new organ-chip model of bone metastasis which incorporates cancer cells and bone cells in … [more]

QM student wins IMechE prize for the best Bioengineering undergraduate project 16 June 2021 Congratulations to Eisha Hashmi who was selected for the IMechE Vicon Award for the best Bioengineering undergraduate project.  Eisha presented her 3rd year individual research project at the Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards event held by Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and was awared the … [more]

Science & Engineering Summer Research Internships for BAME Undergraduate Students in SEMS 14 June 2021 As part of the Science & Engineering Faculty’s mission to transfer horizons for all students, the School Management Team are delighted to report that SEMS have won four S&E Summer Research Internships for BAME Undergraduate Students. Following a rigorous selection process examining the quality of the … [more]

Liz Tanner becomes Editor in Chief of Journal of Engineering in Medicine. 24 May 2021 From 1st July 2021, Prof Liz Tanner will take over as Editor in Chief of Journal of Engineering in Medicine, Part H of the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  Liz takes over from Professor Tony Unsworth FREng of Durham University has edited the journal for over 28 years … [more]

Prof Federico Carpi Rejoins SEMS as a Visiting Professor 18 May 2021 Federico Carpi is returning as a new Visiting Professors in SEMS. Federico was previously an academic in SEMS until 2016, when he took up a position at the Università degli Studi di Firenze (UniFi). Since then, he has continued his collaboration with colleagues in SEMS acting as a co-supervisor of 5 … [more]

Researchers develop new smell test for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and COVID-19 28 April 2021 A new smell test developed by Queen Mary University of London researchers has been found to be easy to use in patients with Parkinson’s disease, and could also be helpful in diagnosing COVID-19 in the broader population. Smell tests have the potential to support the diagnosis of certain … [more]

New paper on cilia mechanosignalling and polycystin 21 April 2021 Congratulations to Dr Clare Thompson who has published a new paper on the role of polycystin in chondrocyte mechanotransduction. The study published in the International Journal of Molecular Science in a special issue on Mechanobiology of Organelles.  In the paper we subjected isolated chondrocytes to mechanical stimulation and … [more]

YouTube video on Prof Knight's paper on the urine stream set to go viral 11 March 2021 Steve Mould, the famous science communicator and YouTuber, has just produced a new video on the physics behind the shape of the urine stream. Steve explains that there is very little published literature on this phenomenum but he describes one key paper ... ... In 2012 Prof Knight and colleagues published a paper … [more]

Photoelectrochemical imaging with high spatiotemporal resolution: publication in Biosensors and Bioelectronics 1 March 2021 Electrochemical or photoelectrochemical imaging of living cells has great potential for label-free, functional monitoring of cell responses, but is either relatively slow or suffers from poor resolution. Detailed electrochemical imaging has been limited to single-cell investigations, making it time-consuming to produce biologically relevant data. Our publication “Photoelectrochemical imaging system … [more]

QMUL-NPU collaboration develops a novel generation of nanostructured responsive biosensors 26 February 2021 A collaborative team led by Prof Julien Gautrot from QMUL and Prof. Xiaoyan Ma from NPU (Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China) has developed a novel strategy for the design of nanostructured biosensors. Bringing biocatalytic sites close to the surface of electrodes is essential in order to optimise electron transfer … [more]

New funding for storytelling project to inspire future engineers 25 February 2021 ‘Engineer the Story’, run in partnership with the Ideas Foundation, helps engineers create digital stories to bring their research to life. Supported by new funding from the Train the Trainer Initiative of StoryFutures Academy, the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling run by National Film and … [more]

Knight's group publish new paper on the importance of mechanical stimulation in organ-chip technology 24 February 2021 Prof Knight and colleagues at Queen Mary University of London and University College Dublin have published a new paper discussing the importance of incorporating mechanical stimulation into organ-on-a-chip technology. Prof Knight will be discussing this work at the forthcoming Pan-London 3Rs Symposium. Organ-chip models consist of living cells grown in … [more]

EPSRC New Horizons grant on 3D photoelectrochemical imaging 1 February 2021 Prof Steffi Krause, Dr Joe Biscoe, Dr Thomas Iskratsch and Dr Bo Zhou have been awarded an EPSRC New Horizon’s grant (EP/V047523/1) of £200k to develop new measurement technology for 3D photoelectrochemical imaging. Electrochemical imaging techniques are powerful tools for the investigation of topography, charge and … [more]

New CRUK/EPSRC research grant: Organ-on-a-chip model to investigate breast cancer bone metastases 12 January 2021 A new research grant using organ-on-a-chip technology to understand breast cancer bone metastasis has started in Prof Martin Knight's bioengineering and mechanobiology research group. The multidisciplinary award is jointly funded by Cancer Research UK (CR UK) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project will develop … [more]

New paper on anti-inflammatory effects of TRPV4 stimulation 11 January 2021 Prof Knight's research group have published a new study showing, for the first time, the anti-inflammatory effects of stimulating the mechanosensitive ion-channel, TRPV4, and its importance in cartilage health. Degenerative joint conditions, such as osteoarthritis, are associated with pro-inflammatory signalling which causes degradation of the articular cartilage leading to … [more]

Bo Zhou Passes his PhD Viva 9 December 2020 Congratulations to Bo Zhou who passed his PhD viva yesterday. Bo's thesis title is "Photoelectrochemical imaging of live cells using semiconductor substrates". He was supervised by Steffi Krause and Karin Hing. He presented his work at the International Symposium on Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics in 2019, published two full … [more]

Liz Tanner elected Secretary of International College of Biomaterials Fellows 4 December 2020 On Friday 4th December the new Council of the International College of Fellows in Biomaterials Science and Engineering meet. This Council will lead worldwide activity in Biomaterials for the next 4 years. Activities will include student exchanges, debates at congresses and supporting the run up to 2024 World Biomaterials Congress in South … [more]

Queen Mary scientists receive donation from Emulate, Inc to support Covid-19 research 1 December 2020 The donation was awarded to Professor Daniel Pennington and Dr Neil McCarthy as part of the Organs-on-Chips against COVID-19 initiative run by the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network. Through this research project the scientists hope to improve understanding of how Covid-19 affects the lungs and identify new ways … [more]

EU Commission report on cancer mechanobiology research from Prof Knight's group at QMUL 24 November 2020 The EU Commission have published a report on some of the research into cancer mechanobiology taking place in the Bioengineering Division within School of Engineering and Materials Science at QMUL. The report entitled 'Mechanobiology of METAstatic and DORMant cancer cells in bone marrow lesions', describes research conducted by Dr Verbruggen … [more]

New bioengineering approach to fix fetal membranes 13 October 2020 The study, published in the journal Prenatal Diagnosis, found that these molecules, known as peptide amphiphiles (PAs) self-assemble to form a ‘plug’ that seals holes within the fetal membranes, and could potentially help repair any damage. For the study, the researchers established a fetal membrane defect model, … [more]

Organ on chip funding sandpit goes virtual 5 October 2020 Thanks to the new world of on-line events, the OOACT Network's sandpit – originally planned face to face in April this year – was run successfully in MS Teams from 29 September to 1 October. This interactive funding sandpit event provided a great opportunity for 32 senior academics and industrialists from across … [more]

Funding awarded to Prof Knight to develop a new treatment for the rare disease, Jeune Syndrome 1 October 2020 This project funded by Queen Mary Innovations, will identify compounds for the treatment of a rare genetic disease, Jeune Syndrome, that disrupts skeletal formation. The disease is caused by mutation in the genes that regulate primary cilia – the tiny hair-like cellular structures that coordinate a variety of important signalling … [more]

QM hosts new Organ-on-a-chip Research symposia 22 September 2020 QMUL has launched a new e-symposia series with research presentations related to organ-on-a-chip and other predictive in vitro models. The symposia are part of the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network which is funded via the Technology Touching Life scheme and directed by Prof Hazel Screen and Prof Martin Knight, both bioengineers … [more]

Thomas Iskratsch is featured in the current issue of the Journal of Cell Science as part of the "Cell Scientist to Watch" series. 3 August 2020 Thomas Iskratsch is featured in the current issue of Journal of Cell Science as part of the "Cell Scientist to Watch" series. The series looks at "cell biologists who are in the earlier stages of their careers, and who [the Journal of Cell Science think] are making … [more]

Successful Launch of QMUL Centre for Predictive in vitro Models 22 July 2020 The Centre for Predictive in vitro Models (CPM) was officially launched on Wednesday 22nd with an successful virtual symposium. More than 330 registrated attendees joined in to celebrate the occasion, listening to talks and participating in stimulating discussions. Introductory words from the vice principal for the faculty of Science and Engineering, … [more]

Using Organs-on-chips technology to accelerate COVID-19 research 18 June 2020 The Queen Mary & Emulate Organs-on-Chips Centre is involved in a new initiative to use miniaturised living systems with human cells, known as organ-chips, in the fight against COVID-19. As part of this initiative, Emulate, Inc have donated blank Organ-Chips to the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network to support the … [more]

New Paper! 8 June 2020 Congratulations Connor for the acceptance of your first paper in Frontiers Bioengineering & Bitechnology: "Force transmission between the gastrocnemius and soleus sub-tendons of the Achilles tendon in rat” Gains CC, Correia CC, Baan GC, Noort W, Screen HRC, Maas H. (2020) Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology [more]

New state-of-the-art microscope to support research in the School of Engineering and Materials Science 20 May 2020 Queen Mary underlined its strong commitment to the ongoing research in SEMS by investing into a £375K state-of-the-art super-resolution spinning disc microscope. Microscopy imaging approaches have long been a major research strength within the school, facilitating new collaborative links and supporting significant research funding and outputs in leading journals. … [more]

Queen Mary + Emulate Organs-on-Chips Centre supports COVID-19 initiative 6 May 2020 The Queen Mary + Emulate Organs-on-Chips Centre is supporting a new initiative to use predictive in vitro models, also known as organ-chips, in the fight against COVID-19. Emulate, Inc is participating in the Organs-on-Chips against COVID-19 initiative (#OoCovid) and donating a set of Organ-Chips to the UK Organ-on-a-Chip Technologies Network which … [more]

Researchers use magnetism to keep drugs at disease sites 30 April 2020 The researchers were able to use magnetism to hold ‘magnetically responsive’ microscopic drug carriers at chosen sites, even in the presence of external forces, such as flowing liquid, which would normally displace them. They also found that magnetism restricted the movement of cells containing these drug capsules. This … [more]

New date for World Biomaterials Congress 2020 announced 31 March 2020 The World Biomaterials Congress with Liz Tanner as a member of the Executive Committee has been postponed from May to December 2020 due to Covid-19. The new dates are Thursday 11th December to Wednesday 16th December. The programme will be similar but there will be new events announced nearer the time. [more]

Double Success with KTP Grants Awarded 11 March 2020 SEMS has secured two new Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTPs) grants this month. This success represents a total of about £500K in grant funding and a doubling of SEMS portfolio to a total of 4 live KTP projects. This is all of the live KTP projects running at QMUL currently. The … [more]

3rd Year Project Poster Winners Announced 26 February 2020 The Spring Industrial Liaison Forum one again played host to the 3rd year project student poster showcase. Two winners were selected from the 300+ posters that were submitted. These were from Thomas Kellock for his poster on "Spiral Microfluidics for Circulating Tumour Cell Isolation" who is supervised by Yi … [more]

Another Hugely Successful ILF Completed 26 February 2020 The School of Engineering and Materials Science hosted another successful Industrial Liaison Forum (ILF) on Wednesday 26th February 2020 which attracted 85 visitors during the day. The focus was on our Taught Programme Student Projects with more than 100 of our students having the opportunity to discuss their projects with each other, QMUL … [more]

Robot Hand Team Wins Top Prize at ILF 26 February 2020 A team of 4th year MEng students Jamie SENGUN, Ahmed DEIRI, Talha TAILOR, Kai PAGE & Mohammed KHAN who have been working on the "Soft 3D-printed Robotic Hand" project supervised by Dr Lorenzo Jamone & Dr Ketao Zhang won the best MEng group project prize at the Annual … [more]

First outcome of our 'Hacking Hearts' art and science outreach collaboration with Central Saint Martins released online 19 February 2020 Central Saint Martins published a first story about the outcome or our art and science collaboration. This fast-paced project saw postgraduate students from across disciplines hack the research of our inaugural Scientists in Residence over the course of a week. You can read here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/… [more]

Join us for Professor Hazel Screen's Inaugural Lecture 13 February 2020 We are delighted to announce that Professor Hazel Screen's Inaugural Lecture will be taking place on Thursday 19 March. Hazel's research spans from the nano-scale to whole body mechanics, where she utilises a bioengineering approach to explore the relationships between tissue health and disease, and the surrounding mechanical environment. … [more]

New paper on the anti-inflammatory effects of low levels of cobalt ions 3 February 2020 Cobalt ions from some orthopaedic implants induce a dose-dependent cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory response. However, this new paper from Prof Knight and Prof Shelton's groups shows that low levels of cobalt are in fact beneficial and block pro-inflammatory signalling in cartilage. The authors showed that sub-toxic levels of cobalt (50uM) … [more]

The Organ-on-a-Chip Shop – a Science Museum highlight! 29 January 2020 On 29 January, Organ-on-a-Chip Technologies Network scientists and engineers swapped their lab coats for aprons, to run the Organ on a Chip shop at the hugely popular Science Museum Lates in London. This Lates night celebrated the launch of the Museum’s new Medicine Galleries and attracted over 4,000 visitors. Promoted … [more]

Dan Bader Gives His Valedictory Lecture in Technical University of Eindhoven 24 January 2020 During his time as Professor of Medical Engineering at Queen Mary University of London, Prof Bader was also a part-time visiting professor in the Technical University of Eindhoven (Tu/E). There he worked closely with Prof Cees Oomens in the area of pressure ulcers as well as continuing his work … [more]

We're hiring! 20 January 2020 We are currently hiring, with both a PDRA and PhD studentship in the organ-on-a-chip field. If you're interested in building new musculoskeletal in vitro models with us, we'd be delighted to hear from you! PhD Studentship: The interfascicular matrix niche – novel approaches to identify the aetiology of … [more]

Queen Mary opens Organs-on-Chips Centre for advancements in medical research and drug development 16 January 2020 A new research centre which aims to revolutionise medical research and drug development using microengineered Organs-on-Chips has opened at Queen Mary University of London. Organs-on-Chips contain tiny hollow channels lined by living human cells that recreate the microenvironment experienced by cells within the human body.  As miniaturised living … [more]

Profs Knight and Screen interviewed for report on organ-on-a-chip 13 December 2019 Profs Knight and Screen were recently interviewed for a news article on organ-on-a-chip which has just been published in the magazine Engineering & Technology. The article explored the potential of organ-on-a-chip technology for testing the safety and efficacy of new pharmaceuticals and the impact on conventional animal testing. [more]

Clare Thompson and Megan McFie publish chapter in new mechanobiology book. 6 December 2019 Clare Thompson and Megan Mcfie have helped write a chapter on primary cilia mechanobiology in an excellent new book entitled Mechanobiology : From Molecular Sensing to Disease. The chapter reviews the role of primary cilia in mechanosignalling in a variety of tissues and the effect of mechanical forces on cilia structure … [more]

Organ-on-a-Chip on show at Science Museum Lates 4 December 2019 Science Museum Lates: Medicine, 18.45 - 22.00, Wednesday 29 January 2020 (over -18s only) Organ on a Chip Shop - a Lates highlight! Organ-on a-Chip Technologies Network members from across the UK will be running the shop at this hugely popular event. Based on the concept of a fish & chip takeaway, this '… [more]

Planning Meeting for World Biomaterials Congress 4 December 2019 On 3 and 4 December the Executive Committee, Liz Tanner, Lucy Di Silvio King's and Nicholas Dunne Dublin City University for the 2020 World Biomaterials Congress meet in Glasgow. We have received over 2,800 abstracts with spaces for 1,200 Oral presentations so have offered the remainder Poster Presentations. The e-mails should be sent before … [more]

Knight group presentations at the International Cilia & Centrosomes Conference 29 November 2019 Several members of the Knight group have been at the excellent International Conference on Cilia, Flagella and Centrosomes organised by the French and UK Cilia Networks. On the first day Megan gave a fantastic presentation on her PhD project screening >1700 compounds for effects on primary cilia structure as part … [more]

PhD poster prizes to Megan and Hudair 21 November 2019 Congratulations to Megan and Hudair who both won prizes for their PhD research posters at the Industrial Liaison Forum organised by the School of Engineering and Materials Science. Both Megan and Hudair are part of Knight’s research group. Megan’s PhD is co-supervised by Dr Cleo Bishop … [more]

Industrial Liaison Forum is a Tremendous Success 20 November 2019 The biannual Industrial Liaison Forum was held on Wednesday November 20th November in the Octagon. The event was well attended with over eighty industrialists from more than sixty organisations attending. The event was broken up into four parts, starting in the morning with the PhD research poster exhibition, followed by … [more]

Award Winning Research Students in SEMS 20 November 2019 At the SEMS annual research led Industrial Liaison Forum, there was a research showcase from 80 of our current PhD students. The panel of judges this year were made up a wide range of academics from each division. They decided after a careful deliberation to award the following prizes: 1st Prize: … [more]

SEMS at 'Hacking Hearts' at Central Saint Martins 21 October 2019 We're excited to be participating in 'Hacking Hearts' at Central St Martins in London. The event is a ‘Hackathon’, a week-long project re-imagining heart research artistically by Central St Martins Arts Students. Dr Thomas Iskratsch, with help of his group, will be Scientist in Residence. The workshop … [more]

InGaN suitable as a substrate for photoelectrochemical imaging in life sciences 11 October 2019 Bo's paper on the use of InGaN as the semiconductor substrate for AC photoelectrochemical imaging has been accepted by Sensors. AC photocurrent imaging at metal oxide semiconductors auch as ITO and ZnO nanorods has been shown to suitable for bioimaging applications such as the measurement of the negative surface … [more]

Lei Su nominated as committee member of IEEE Photonics Conference Council 2 October 2019 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Conference Council regularly review the Society's meetings portfolio, including major conferences in the field of Photonics. The Conference Council is also responsible for reviewing and approving requests for technical co-sponsorship, Chairs and Representatives for selected conferences, and location and venue selections for … [more]

Professor Wen Wang elected FREng 30 September 2019 Professor Wen Wang has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering today. This is as: Wen Wang is distinguished for his insightful achievements in cardiovascular bioengineering, specifically in biofluid mechanics related to the molecular lining of blood vessels and the transport of fluid and solutes across the … [more]

New research published in Nature Communications, reveals how the location of the protein Polycystin-2 (PC2) on primary cilia regulates Polycystic Kidney Disease. 16 September 2019 Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a common yet devastating disease. It is a heritable disorder characterised by development of kidney cysts which slowly overtake the kidney’s structure, destroying its function, and often resulting complete kidney failure by the of age 60. ADPKD affects as many as 1 in 400 … [more]

Bioengineers and Cancer Biologists develop a complex in vitro model of the human tumour - new Ideaslab video 6 September 2019 Bioengineers are trying to grow human organs, so could growing human tumours help us to understand the microenvironment in which they spread – and how the immune system might be persuaded to attack them? Frances Balkwill explains in this new Ideaslab video for the World Economic Forum how our research … [more]

Liz Tanner gives Lecture in Sichuan University 21 August 2019 While in China to present the 11th World Biomaterials Congress 2020 to the Chinese Society for Biomaterials, Liz Tanner also visited Professor Zhang Xingdong (former Research Visitor to the Department of Materials) at Sichuan University and gave a lecture entitled "Composite Materials for Bone Augmentation". [more]

Talk about saving babies' lives inspires young people to become bioengineers 12 July 2019 Queen Mary researcher Dr Tina Chowdhury gave an inspiring talk to young people about saving babies’ lives at the eighth St Paul’s Way Trust Science Summer School chaired by Professor Brian Cox (OBE) and Lord Andrew Mason (OBE). Dr Chowdhury’s research is investigating ways to … [more]

Queen Mary Dental Professor becomes first British winner of prestigeous Varshneya Award 26 June 2019 Professor Hill, the first British scientist to win this award, was presented with his prize at the 25th International Glass Congress in Boston. The Award was made by the American Ceramic Society.  An expert on fluorine containing glasses and glass-ceramics, Professor Hill initially worked on high fluorine content glasses … [more]

Mexican government presents Queen Mary academic with prestigious award 12 June 2019 Professor Teresa Alonso-Rasgado, Queen Mary’s Dean for Global Engagement in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, has been awarded the highest distinction possible for her academic excellence in Mexico. The Lazaro Cardenas Medal for academic excellence was presented to Professor Alonso-Rasgado by the Secretary of Education, Esteban Moctezuma … [more]

Funding awarded for mechanobiology research into osteoarthritis 10 June 2019 Queen Mary Researchers have been awarded funding for three separate biomechanics and mechanobiology pump priming projects. Professors Hazel Screen and David Lee of the School of Engineering and Materials Science were awarded funding from the OAtech+ Network to develop projects relating to mechanobiology aimed at targeting the chronic, degenerative disease … [more]

ACS Biomacromolecules paper on peptide cross-linked poly(2-oxazoline) as a sensor material for the detection of proteases accepted 7 June 2019 Norlaily Ahamad's paper on peptide cross-linked poly(2-oxazoline) as a sensor material for the detection of proteases has been accepted by Biomacromolecules. Increased levels of active proteases are frequently associated with inflammatory conditions, and there is increasing demand for point of care devices for monitoring inflammation. Norlaily cross-linked a … [more]

Muchun and Bo present at the XXV. International Symposium on Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics in Limerick 28 May 2019 Muchun Zhong's and Bo Zhou's presentations were well received by the Bioelectrochemistry community. Muchun presented her work on light-addressable potentiometric sensors for the detection of zinc, and Bo talked about photoelectrochemical imaging with iron oxide nanorods. [more]

Funding awarded to develop kidney-on-a-chip for animal free drug testing 14 May 2019 A Queen Mary researcher has been awarded funding to develop artificial kidneys, known as kidney-on-a-chip, to avoid testing drugs on animals. Dr Julien Gautrot, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, was awarded the £50,000 grant from The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in … [more]

Synthetic bone graft research gets stamp of approval 2 May 2019 The pioneering work of a Queen Mary researcher has been celebrated with a stamp as part of a new series launched by Royal Mail. The six stamp set, launched today, marks innovations in British engineering from the last 50 years including the development of a synthetic bone graft by Dr Karin … [more]

New approach to repair fetal membranes may prevent birth complications 23 April 2019 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and University College London have developed a new approach to repair defects in fetal membranes which could prevent life-long medical conditions and disabilities associated with preterm birth. The integrity of the fetal membranes that surrounds the baby in the womb during pregnancy is … [more]

First report of cell surface charge mapping with a photoelectrochemical imaging system appears in Analytical Chemistry 15 April 2019 Fan's and Bo's paper on the photoelectrochemical imaging of cell surface charges has been been accepted by Analytical Chemistry. Photoanodic currents at indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass immersed in an electrolyte solution were shown to be sensitive to surface charge, pH and impedance. Our laser scanning setup … [more]

QM hosts Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network meeting 9 April 2019 Queen Mary hosted the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network for a special Learning and Collaborative Event. The network has over 450 members from 50+ academic institutions with over 50 partners from industry and other stake holders. The network event included a programme of research talks, discussion groups, industry demonstrations and special training sessions on … [more]

Norlaily's paper about collagenase sensor accepted 2 April 2019 Our paper entitled 'Collagenase Biosensor Based on the Degradation of Peptide Cross-Linked Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogel Films' written by Norlaily Ahmad, Burcu Colak, De-Wen Zhang, Michael Watkinson, Remzi Becer, Julien Gautrot and Steffi Krause has been published in Sensors 2019, 19(7), 1677; doi:10.3390/s19071677. Peptide cross-linked hydrogels were deposited on gold coated, piezoelectric … [more]

Exercise helps prevent cartilage damage caused by arthritis 27 March 2019 Exercise helps to prevent the degradation of cartilage caused by osteoarthritis, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London. The researchers show for the first time how mechanical forces experienced by cells in joints during exercise prevent cartilage degradation by suppressing the action of inflammatory molecules which … [more]

New research identifies optimal ventilation protocol for premature babies 26 March 2019 A new paper from Prof Martin Knight's group examines the use of two different methods of providing mechanical ventilation to premature babies. The study led by Prof Anne Greenough and colleagues at King's College London, explores the effect of lung inflation volume on inflammation within the alveolar epithelial … [more]

3rd Year Project Poster Winners Announced 14 March 2019 The Spring Industrial Liaison Forum played host to the 3rd year project student poster showcase. This year two winners were selected from the 300+ posters that were submitted. These were from Fatou CHANG for her poster on "Solar drier for agricultural food preservation in developing countries" who is supervised … [more]

Moresche Bartley wins the best MSc student Poster Award 13 March 2019 Moresche Bartley won the best MSc student prize at the 2019 Industrial Liaison Forum in SEMS for her poster called, "An in vitro study of myocyte and fibroblast co-culture response to degraded Mg alloy". Her project is being supervised by Prof. Liz Tanner [more]

Giant ‘nerve cell’ science education centre lands in London’s East End 4 March 2019 ‘Neuron Pod’ - a striking 23-metre long and 10-metre high free-standing structure – has opened its doors as an informal science learning centre at Queen Mary University of London’s Whitechapel campus. The launch was marked by a visit from children from Christ Church Primary School, Brick … [more]

Norlaily Ahmad passes her PhD viva 28 February 2019 Congratulations to Norlaily Ahmad who passed her PhD viva today. Norlaily's thesis title is "Biosensor for matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) based on peptide-linked polymers". She was supervised by Steffi Krause and Remzi Becer and also had significant input from Julien Gautrot and Michael Watkinson. She presented her work … [more]

Liz talks at Bristol University Women in STEM event 5 February 2019 On Tuesday 5th February Liz Tanner gave a talk in the Senate House at Bristol University to the student's Women in STEM society as part of the Women in Conversation week of talks. A lively discussion afterwards with enthusiastic students from first year undergraduates to PhD students. [more]

Feng Yang passes her PhD 21 January 2019 Dr Feng Yang has successfully completed her corrections having defended her PhD thesis entitled "The Synergistic effect of Bone Graft Substitute Architecture and Mechanical Environment on hMSCs Responses in vitro". Her research on the development of 3D bioreactors to facilitate in vitro investigation of bone graft substitute bioactivity … [more]

New paper out from collaboration with the Lappalainen Lab! 6 December 2018 This study shows a surprising role for Calponin-3 in controlling proper contractility of the stress fiber network. Will Hawkes collaborated with the Lappalainen lab and performed nanopillar assays to measure the traction forces that are associated with stress fibers. He could indeed detect higher forces in the knockout cells, as … [more]

New video report on soft robotics for keyhole surgery 30 November 2018 Breaking news on the EU robotics project STIFF-FLOP Research on soft robotics for keyhole surgery by Professor Althoefer, head of Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) is highlighted in the new TechRepublic video on '5 things to know about soft robotics': 1. It doesn't mean pillows. 2. Search and rescue. 3. Medicine. (STIFF-FLOP features … [more]

Liz Tanner attends Service to celebrate Year of Engineering 22 November 2018 Liz Tanner was one of the 2000 guests at the ecumenical "National Service to Celebrate the Year of Engineering" held at Westminster Abbey. The address was given by Dame Anne Dowling OM DBDE FRS FREng President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. One of the lessons was read by … [more]

Congratulations to Marta Godinho! 22 November 2018 Marta Godinho has successfully completed her PhD viva today on a thesis entitled, "Investigating the role of elastin in tendon mechanics." She was supervised by Hazel Screen and Steve Greenwald with significant input from Chavaunne Thorpe, and was recipient of the Bonfield Scholarship though the Institute of Bioengineering. … [more]

New article on our research in The Horse 30 October 2018 we are excited to see an article in leading equine health magazine "The Horse" talking about our latest research findings and how we are working to understand and manage equine tendinopathy: https://thehorse.com/159937/tendon-problems-in-old-horses-what-goes-wrong/ [more]

Professor Kaspar Althoefer interviewed about robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. 8 October 2018 Professor Kaspar Althoefer was interviewed about his research on soft robotics for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. "We wanted to take our inspiration from biology – so octopus tentacles were our inspiration....making something that was made of soft materials, to achieve more dexterous behaviour but also to increase patient … [more]

Welcome to Antonios! 1 October 2018 We are delighted to welcome Antonios Giannopoulos as a PDRA working on a Dunhill funded project, looking to investigate the early initiation of tendinopathy and why risk increases with ageing.

Professor Screen giving the opening keynote at this year's ISTS conference 21 September 2018 Some of the group will be travelling to the 5th International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium (ISTS) next week in Groningen. Prof Screen will give the opening keynote lecture about tendon ageing, where she will describe the ageing changes in the interfascicular matrix and how this may contribute to tendon injury risk [more]

New Paper Accepted 20 September 2018 Congratulations to Renjie (Jacky) Lui for the acceptance of his paper "Guided cell attachment via aligned electrospinning of glycopolymers" in MacroMolecular Bioscience. The work constitutes a large part of his PhD which he submitted earlier this month. Lui R, Becer CR, Screen HRC (2018) Guided cell attachment via aligned … [more]

Liz Tanner Returns to QMUL 17 September 2018 After just over 11 years at the University of Glasgow, Liz Tanner has returned to School of Engineering and Materials Science to become the first Bonfield Professor of Biomedical Materials. Liz's first job was as a post doc in Bill Bonfield's Biomaterials Group, before the foundation of the IRC … [more]

Organ-on-a-Chip Network launch a great success 13 September 2018 The UK Organ-on-a-Chip Network official launch took place last week. On the 6th of September there was a conference day, held in conjunction with the BioMedEng18 Conference, taking place at Imperial College London and followed by a launch day at Queen Mary’s Graduate Centre on Friday the 7th. … [more]

Scientists design material that can store energy like an eagle’s grip 9 August 2018 What do a flea and an eagle have in common? They can store energy in their feet without having to continuously contract their muscles to then jump high or hold on to prey. Now scientists at Queen Mary University of London and University of Cambridge have created materials that can … [more]

Mechanical regulation of primary cilia in tendon cells suggests a novel feedback mechanism controlling tendon health and mechanosensitivity. 23 July 2018 New research from Prof Martin Knight and Prof Hazel Screen's group at Queen Mary University of London reveals a novel feedback mechanism regulating tendon health and homeostasis during mechanical loading. The study published in Scientific Reports investigates primary cilia in tendon cells subject to physiological and pathological mechanical loading. … [more]

Scientists develop material that could regenerate dental enamel 1 June 2018 Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed a new way to grow mineralised materials which could regenerate hard tissues such as dental enamel and bone. Enamel, located on the outer part of our teeth, is the hardest tissue in the body and enables our teeth to function for … [more]

Queen Mary awarded funding to build instrument which will revolutionise monitoring of cellular processes 29 May 2018 Queen Mary University of London has been awarded funding to lead a joint project to build an instrument which will revolutionise the monitoring of cellular processes in tissues that line organs. The grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has a total value of £823,329 over three … [more]

Technology network awarded funding to capture musculoskeletal degeneration 20 April 2018 Queen Mary University of London - as part of a group of universities, hospitals and research centres - has been awarded funding to create a network seeking to develop new, high energy imaging methods to capture the dynamic biochemical and biophysical processes in biological samples. The human body is highly … [more]

Queen Mary Awarded Funding to Establish Organ-on-a-Chip UK Network 16 April 2018 Queen Mary University of London has been awarded funding to lead a UK network in the development of ‘Organ-on-a-chip’ devices. The network will be part of a major new Research Councils UK (RCUK) funding venture, Technology Touching Life [1], which aims to foster interdisciplinary research into innovative technology in … [more]

Dan Rowson passes his PhD on the effect of mechanical loading on tendon cells 11 April 2018 Congratulations to Dan Rowson who passed his PhD viva. Dan's PhD thesis investigated the effect of mechanical stimulation on tendon cells in order to better understand the process of tendon injury. In particular, Dan investigated the effect of mechanical forces on tiny hair-like cellular structures structures, known as primary … [more]

New Dunhill Medical Trust grant awarded to Prof Hazel Screen to investigate the development of tendon injury with ageing. 10 April 2018 Professor Hazel Screen has been awarded a Dunhill Medical Trust grant of £190,000, to investigate the causes of age-related tendon injury. Tendon injuries are extremely painful and highly debilitating, and become increasingly common as we age, where they can dramatically affect quality-of-life. Developing treatments is of the utmost importance, but … [more]

Storytelling project for engineers and young east Londoners wins funding 5 April 2018 A Queen Mary University of London project which aims to give engineers the skills to create digital stories about how their work can improve the world has received funding from the Ingenious Awards. ‘Engineer the Story’ will bring together engineers to work alongside disadvantaged young people from east … [more]

New animation from the British Heart Foundation shows how SEMS research into tiny tech is helping to treat heart failure 3 April 2018 Heart failure affects an estimated 920,000 people in the UK. It means that your heart can't pump blood as well as it should do. One of the most common causes of heart failure is a heart attack. After a heart attack the damaged heart muscle can become stiff. This means … [more]

Institute of Mechanical Engineers confirms accreditation of SEMS programmes 22 March 2018 The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has confirmed the accreditation details for our programmes following their re-accreditation visit to SEMS in November. Students completing an IMechE accredited degree are deemed to have met part or all of the academic requirements for registration as a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer and are … [more]

Exciting New Paper on the Tumour Microenvironment 20 March 2018 A new paper published in the journal Cancer Discovery, by Prof Martin Knight and colleagues describes, for the first time, an evolving human metastatic microenvironment. The work led by Prof Fran Balkwill measures gene expression, matrisome proteomics, cytokine and chemokine levels, cellularity, extracellular matrix organization, and relates this to changes … [more]

Best 3rd Year Project Student Awards Awarded at the Spring Industrial Liaison Forum 15 March 2018 At the Spring Industrial Liaison Forum (ILF) every 3rd year project student was invited to submit a poster on their research. The best 50 posters were displayed to the visitors and the students competed for the best 3rd Year Project Prize. The judges deliberated at length and decided to split the … [more]

Best MSc Student Project Poster 14 March 2018 At the Spring Industrial Liaison Forum (ILF) all the MSc students were invited to submit a poster on their research topics. The best posters were invited to compete for the DePuy Synthes' MSc student Prize. The standard was once again very high this year but after careful deliberations the award … [more]

Marie Curie Fellowship Award for Dr Luming Zhao 12 March 2018 Congratulations to Dr Luming Zhao, who has been awarded a two-year H2020 Marie Curie Fellowship (€200k), supervised by Dr Lei Su, Prof Martin Knight and Dr Manoj Ramachandran. He will develop novel compact optical fibre lasers for clinical imaging and laser surgery. [more]

SEMS Industrial Liaison Forum is a Great Success 7 March 2018 The Spring SEMS Industrial Liaison Forum was a very popular event again this year. In the morning the annual taught student showcase took place in the Octagon which was followed in the afternoon by a wide range of alumni lead panel and networking sessions. There was also an Industrial Advisory … [more]

Best MEng Group in SEMS Award 7 March 2018 At the Spring Industrial Liaison Forum (ILF) event all the 4th year MEng group project students in SEMS had the opportunity to present their projects and compete for the DePuy Synthes Group Project Prize. The standard was once again very high this year but after careful deliberations the award for … [more]

Professor Gleb Sukhorukov reaches an h-index of 95 27 February 2018 Congratulations to Professor Gleb Sukhorukov whose h-index has recently reached 95, as per Google Scholar. The h-index is a numerical indicator of how productive and influential a researcher is. Gleb is author and co-author of more than 300 papers whose impact is reflected in more than 30 000 citations of his works. He pioneered … [more]

Cells ‘walk’ on liquids a bit like geckos 19 February 2018 Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that cells can ‘walk’ on liquids a bit like the way geckos stick to other surfaces. Cells are typically grown on solid materials, such as tissue culture plastic, degradable polymers and bioceramics. It is thought that the strong mechanical … [more]

New printing technique uses cells and molecules to recreate biological structures 16 February 2018 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have developed a printing technique using cells and molecules normally found in natural tissues to create constructs that resemble biological structures. These structures are embedded in an ink which is similar to their native environment and opens the possibility to make them behave … [more]

Fake a knee at the Science Museum 1 February 2018 When we loose cartilage tissue in the knee joint and suffer from knee pain, the joint function is impaired and the patient may need a total knee replacement surgery. The procedure involves removal of the damaged and diseased joint and replacement with an artificial joint. Most patients who undergo knee … [more]

New grant on mechanobiology of bone tumours 1 February 2018 Dr Stefaan Verbruggen has recently joined the bioengineering group at Queen Mary on a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship. Stefaan is working in Prof Martin Knight's research group investigating the role of mechanical forces in bone cancer and the involvement of primary cilia. Stefaan's project is entitled 'META-DORM: … [more]

Cells in the heart sense stiffness by measuring contraction forces and resting tension simultaneously 26 January 2018 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have identified a new mechanism in which adhesive structures within the cells of the heart sense stiffness through muscle contractions and resting tension at the same time. The study, published in Developmental Cell, further shows that the resting tension in the heart cells … [more]

New Published Research: Cells in the heart sense stiffness by measuring contraction forces and resting tension simultaneously 26 January 2018 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have identified a new mechanism in which adhesive structures within the cells of the heart sense stiffness through muscle contractions and resting tension at the same time. The study, published in Developmental Cell, further shows that the resting tension in the heart cells … [more]

New molecular printing technology could recreate complex chemical environments that resemble the human body 20 December 2017 New patterning technology which could open opportunities to recreate complex biological environments has been developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). '3DEAL' is a simple and inexpensive fabrication technique able to generate complex molecular patterns within soft matter, such as hydrogels, with microscale resolution and up to … [more]

PhD success for Dr Wei Ding 13 November 2017 Congratulations to Dr Wei Ding who passed his PhD viva on the 31st of October 2017. Wei worked with Professor Wen Wang and Dr Mario Orsi on molecular dynamic simulation of lipid bilayer membranes. He was jointly funded by QMUL and the China Scholarship Council. During his PhD study, Wei has … [more]

Study reveals how manipulation of primary cilia may improve cartilage tissue engineering 30 September 2017 A new paper from Prof Knight's group shows how expansion of cartilage cells for tissue engineering disrupts primary cilia expression inhibiting associated cellular signalling. Primary cilia are specialised, hair-like structures found singly in the majority of cell types where they coordinate a variety of cell processes important for tissue … [more]

Research paper identifies the secret life of collagen 12 September 2017 Dr Gupta and Prof Knight have just published exciting results which cast light on how cartilage is able to withstand the demanding mechanical environment of the joint and may eventually help to explain why cartilage breaks down with ageing or arthritis. Collagen changes its crystallinity in response to physical forces, … [more]

Repair of fetal membranes could reduce preterm births 5 September 2017 Life-long medical conditions and disabilities associated with preterm birth could be prevented with a new bioengineering approach led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Bioengineers from SEMS working together with clinical practitioners have potentially found a way to reduce preterm births and prevent early deaths of young … [more]

PhD student David Barrett wins 2016 Malcolm Ferguson-Smith Young Investigator award 20 June 2017 Congratulations to our PhD student David Barrett, who has won the prestigious 2016 Malcolm Ferguson-Smith Young Investigator Award for his article published in the October 2016 issue of the Prenatal Diagnosis journal. The title of David's article is “Connexin 43 is overexpressed in human fetal membrane defects after fetoscopic surgery”. … [more]

Research to heal fetal membranes receives funding from Great Ormond Street and Sparks Charity. 27 March 2017 Dr Tina Chowdhury has been awarded a project grant by GOSH and Sparks charity (£148, 862). The project will develop a novel therapy to heal fetal membrane defects in the womb with Anna David (fetal medicine professor, UCL), Alvaro Mata (nanotechnology professor, SEMS), Jan Deprest (fetal surgeon/professor, Leuven), Dan Bader (… [more]

Virtual Lab project wins prestigious higher education award 1 February 2017 The Virtual Lab, a platform that allows students to learn lab skills in bioengineering and the life sciences, has won the Gold Award at the Life Sciences category. The Awards celebrate innovative higher education pedagogies which enhance learning and employability across the globe. The Virtual Lab uses the latest games … [more]

The Virtual Lab shortlisted for prestigious higher education award 15 November 2016 The Virtual Lab, a platform that allows students to learn lab skills in bioengineering and the life sciences has been nominated for the e-Learning Innovation category in the Reimagine Education Awards 2016. Dr Tina Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Regenerative Medicine at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, said: “I&… [more]

Opening young minds to bioengineering 5 May 2016 A pioneering scheme called The Bioengineering Experience, developed for school children to explore advances in science, engineering and materials hosted a group of ten-year olds from St Joseph’s in the Park returning for their second visit to Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Led by Dr Tina Chowdhury … [more]

New generation of synthetic bone grafts created 21 December 2015 Scientists led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have developed a new type of synthetic bone graft that boosts the body’s own ability to regenerate bone tissue and could produce better outcomes for patients. The research, which is published in the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in … [more]

The Bioengineering Experience 2015 9 June 2015 Dr Tina Chowdhury's new fillm called "The Bioengineering Experience" can be seen here:

The bioengineering experience 2015 5 May 2015 Children aged 10 from St Joseph’s in the Park visited the Institute of Bioengineering and experienced real, hands on lab activities at the School of Engineering and Materials Science. The project funded by the Center for Public Engagement, was a fantastic event encouraging young people to experience bioengineering first … [more]

New ‘microcapsules’ have potential to repair damage caused by osteoarthritis 21 January 2015 A protein molecule called C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), which occurs naturally in the body, is known to reduce inflammation and aid in the repair of damaged tissue. However, CNP cannot be used to treat osteoarthritis in patients because it cannot target the damaged area even when the protein is injected … [more]

Can a protein help to protect osteoarthritic joints? Dr Tina Chowdhury and team investigate 25 July 2013 For more information on this story, please see the interview on Youtube with Dr Nick Peake, one of the researchers involved in the project.