Prof John Connelly
Professor of Bioengineering
CPM grant funding strategy lead and director of CREATE lab,
CPM Theme lead for Skin Models
Blizard Institute
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London
Research
skin, 3D bioprinting, mechanobiology, regenerative medicine
Interests
My research group focuses on the repair and regeneration of human skin. We develop novel biomaterials and engineered biosystems to model the skin and employ technologies such as micro-fabrication, engineered hydrogels, and 3D bioprinting. This approach has allowed to uncover fundamental mechanisms of tissue homeostasis and wound repair, and a key are of interest is the role of mechanical and biophysical cues in skin regeneration.Publications of specific relevance to Predictive in vitro Models
2022
Jones CFE, Di Cio S, Connelly JT and Gautrot JE (2022). Design of an Integrated Microvascularized Human Skin-on-a-Chip Tissue Equivalent Model. Frontiers Media Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology vol. 10, Sarmin AM, Moussaid NE, Suntornnond R, Tyler EJ, Kim Y-H, Di Cio S, Megone WV, Pearce O, Gautrot JE, Dawson J and Connelly JT (2022). Multi-Scale Analysis of the Composition, Structure, and Function of Decellularized Extracellular Matrix for Human Skin and Wound Healing Models. MDPI Biomolecules vol. 12, (6) Pundel OJ, Blowes LM and Connelly JT (2022). Extracellular Adhesive Cues Physically Define Nucleolar Structure and Function. Wiley Advanced Science vol. 9, (10) 2021
Laly AC, Sliogeryte K, Pundel OJ, Ross R, Keeling MC, Avisetti D, Waseem A, Gavara N and Connelly JT (2021). The keratin network of intermediate filaments regulates keratinocyte rigidity sensing and nuclear mechanotransduction. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances vol. 7, (5) 2019
Almeida FV, Gammon L, Laly AC, Pundel OJ, Bishop CL and Connelly JT (2019). High‐Content Analysis of Cell Migration Dynamics within a Micropatterned Screening Platform. Wiley Advanced Biosystems 1900011-1900011. 2018
Ghetti M, Topouzi H, Theocharidis G, Papa V, Williams G, Bondioli E, Cenacchi G, Connelly JT and Higgins CA (2018). Subpopulations of dermal skin fibroblasts secrete distinct extracellular matrix: implications for using skin substitutes in the clinic. Oxford University Press (OUP) British Journal of Dermatology vol. 179, (2) 381-393. Kenny FN, Drymoussi Z, Delaine-Smith R, Kao AP, Laly AC, Knight MM, Philpott MP and Connelly JT (2018). Tissue stiffening promotes keratinocyte proliferation through activation of epidermal growth factor signaling. Journal of Cell Science vol. 131, (10) 215780-215780. 2017
Pearce OMT, Delaine-Smith R, Maniati E, Nichols S, Wang J, Böhm S, Rajeeve V, Ullah D, Chakravarty P, Jones RR, Montfort A, Dowe T, Gribben J, Jones JL, Kocher HM, Serody JS, Vincent BG, Connelly J, Brenton JD, Chelala C, Cutillas PR, Lockley M, Bessant C, Knight M and Balkwill FR (2017). Deconstruction of a metastatic tumor microenvironment reveals a common matrix response in human cancers. Cancer Discov 2016
Sharili AS, Kenny FN, Vartiainen MK and Connelly JT (2016). Nuclear actin modulates cell motility via transcriptional regulation of adhesive and cytoskeletal genes. Sci Rep vol. 6, 33893-33893. Kao AP, Connelly JT and Barber AH (2016). 3D nanomechanical evaluations of dermal structures in skin. Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials vol. 57, 14-23. Theocharidis G, Drymoussi Z, Kao AP, Barber AH, Lee DA, Braun KM and Connelly JT (2016). Type VI Collagen Regulates Dermal Matrix Assembly and Fibroblast Motility. J Invest Dermatol vol. 136, (1) 74-83. 2015
Almeida FV, Walko G, McMillan JR, McGrath JA, Wiche G, Barber AH and Connelly JT (2015). The cytolinker plectin regulates nuclear mechanotransduction in keratinocytes. The Company of Biologists Journal of Cell Science vol. 128, (24) 4475-4486. 2014
Costa P, Gautrot JE and Connelly JT (2014). Directing cell migration using micropatterned and dynamically adhesive polymer brushes. Acta Biomater vol. 10, (6) 2415-2422. 2012
Driskell RR, Juneja VR, Connelly JT, Kretzschmar K, Tan DW-M and Watt FM (2012). Clonal growth of dermal papilla cells in hydrogels reveals intrinsic differences between Sox2-positive and -negative cells in vitro and in vivo. J Invest Dermatol vol. 132, (4) 1084-1093. Trappmann B, Gautrot JE, Connelly JT, Strange DGT, Li Y, Oyen ML, Cohen Stuart MA, Boehm H, Li B, Vogel V, Spatz JP, Watt FM and Huck WTS (2012). Extracellular-matrix tethering regulates stem-cell fate. Nature Materials 2010
Connelly JT, Gautrot JE, Trappmann B, Tan DWM, Donati G, Huck WTS and Watt FM (2010). Actin and serum response factor transduce physical cues from the microenvironment to regulate epidermal stem cell fate decisions. Nature Cell Biology vol. 12, (7) 711-718. Connelly JT, Vanderploeg EJ, Mouw JK, Wilson CG and Levenston ME (2010). Tensile loading modulates bone marrow stromal cell differentiation and the development of engineered fibrocartilage constructs. Tissue Eng Part A vol. 16, (6) 1913-1923. 2008
Connelly JT, García AJ and Levenston ME (2008). Interactions between integrin ligand density and cytoskeletal integrity regulate BMSC chondrogenesis. J Cell Physiol vol. 217, (1) 145-154. 2007
Connelly JT, García AJ and Levenston ME (2007). Inhibition of in vitro chondrogenesis in RGD-modified three-dimensional alginate gels. Biomaterials vol. 28, (6) 1071-1083. Grants of specific relevance to Predictive in vitro Models
Organ-chip Facility: A world-class in vitro models facility for the UK community, reducing the barriers to adoption to drive animal replacementHazel Screen, Stefaan Verbruggen, Martin Knight, Julia Shelton, Timothy Hopkins and John Connelly
£573,537 NC3Rs National Center for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (07-10-2024 - 14-03-2025)
(EPSRC CDT 2023) Next Generation Organ-on-a-Chip TechnologiesHazel Screen, Martin Knight, Thomas Iskratsch, Caroline Roney, Yi Sui, David Lee, Julia Shelton, Tsz Ho Tse, John Connelly, Adrian Biddle and Lucy Norling
£7,066,811 EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (01-07-2024 - 30-09-2032)
APP13387: Micro-manufacturing of tissue patterned organ-chips for accelerated deployment of new medicinesMartin Knight, Hazel Screen, Julien Gautrot, Timothy Hopkins, John Connelly, Liisa Blowes and Xavier Griffin
£1,787,725 EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (01-07-2024 - 30-06-2027)
Investigating the utility and exploring biological targets of enhanced wound healing compounds in 2DCleo Bishop and John Connelly
£118,835 BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (01-10-2021 - 30-09-2025)
Investigating the utility and exploring biological targets of enhanced wound healing compounds in 2DCleo Bishop and John Connelly
£76,000 Unilever UK Ltd (01-10-2021 - 30-09-2025)
Development of functional 3D eccrine sweat gland modelThomas Iskratsch and John Connelly
£79,541 Unilever UK Ltd (04-10-2021 - 03-10-2024)