Musculoskeletal Models
Queen Mary University of London holds two chairs of Versus Arthritis, prestigious awards in musculoskeletal research and is intimately linked to the Barts Health NHS Trust Musculoskeletal Clinical Service connecting the bench to the clinic. QMUL have also obtained a major investment from Bart’s Charity for the establishment of a new Centre of Excellence for Academic Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery. Utilising human musculoskeletal models is highly advantageous to identify novel therapeutics that will halt inflammation as well as repair and regenerate damaged tissues.
Musculoskeletal models research at QMUL is interdisciplinary combining biology, bioengineering and materials science. Key research areas include development and use of in vitro models for cartilage, bone, synovium, ligament/tendon and muscle. This is associated with research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal biomechanics, mechanobiology and diseases such as osteoarthritis, tendinopathy, osteoporosis, bone metastasis and inflammation.
Some of the current funded projects involving the development and use of musculoskeletal in vitro models:
- Spatial tissue patterning within musculoskeletal organ-chips (Profs Knight, Screen and Connelly)
- 3D bioprinting human pluripotent stem cell-derived skeletal muscle constructs for disease modelling (Dr Lin, Dr Connelly);
- Musculoskeletal organ-on-a-chip models for testing of regenerative medicine products (Prof Screen, Prof Knight);
- Development of bone metastasis models (Prof Knight);
- Development of models for testing osteoinductive synthetic bone graft substitutes (Dr Hing);
- Development of novel organ-chip models for synovium, tendon, bone and cartilage via the Queen Mary+Emulate Organs-on-Chips Centre.
People
- Prof David Lee
Theme Lead for Musculoskeletal Models
Professor of Cell & Tissue Engineering, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Jesmond Dalli
Professor in Molecular Pharmacology, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry - Prof Nikolaos Donos
Director of Research, Queen Mary University of London - Dr Marc Fernandez-Yague
Lecturer in Chemistry, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Julien Gautrot
Professor of Biomaterials and Biointerfaces, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Xavier Griffin
Chair of Bone and Joint Health, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Karin Hing
Professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Regeneration, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Martin Knight
Professor of Mechanobiology, Dean for Research, Queen Mary University of London - Dr Yung-Yao Lin
Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London - Dr Lucy Norling
Versus Arthritis Senior Fellow, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Mauro Perretti
Professor of Immunopharmacology, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Simon Rawlinson
Reader in Dental Hard Tissue Biology, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Hazel Screen
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Julia Shelton
Professor of Biomechanical Engineering, Queen Mary University of London - Prof Greg Slabaugh
Director of the Digital Environment Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London - Dr Stefaan Verbruggen
Lecturer in Medical Technology, Queen Mary University of London