Teaching staff

Research within the School bridges the interface between new advances in science and technology with medicine and clinical practice, bringing together biological scientists, physicists, chemists, engineers, mathematicians and clinicians. Our exceptional track record in bench and bedside regenerative medicine research builds on the reputation and success of the former Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM) which has now integrated within the School.

Our course taps expertise from a variety of internal and external academics, renowned in their particular areas of research, to deliver teaching on a range of topics for core and elective modules, providing flexibility in the breadth of topics you can choose to study via optional modules. You’ll have access to hear from guest lecturers about current developments in the field of stem cell technology and bioengineering. Recent external speakers have included Professor Sian Harding (Cardiac regenerative Medicine at Imperial College London), Professor Sarah Cartmell (Biomaterials at the University of Manchester), Professor Aldo Bocaccini (Tissue engineering at FA University, Erlargen, Nuremberg).

Teaching team includes: 

Dr Vinoj George, Course Director and Lecturer – His research interest is in understanding and modulating mechanisms associated with cardiovascular cell biology and cardiovascular diseases, with the aid of genome engineering in human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs).

Dr Nicholas Wragg, Lecturer in Bioengineering – His research is focused on complementary areas of regenerative medicine: Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering, and Regenerative Medicine Biomanufacturing and Process Development.

Professor Ying Yang, Professor in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering – Ying's current research has been focused on the application of engineering strategies in translational medicine. This includes smart nanofiber design and applications, detection of variation of cell adhesion capacities, developing immune modulating materials, exploring unique techniques to detect heterogeneous cellular populations and correlating the structures of collagen based matrices to diseases.

Professor Neil Telling, Professor of Biomedical Nanophysics – Neil’s current research focuses on two main themes: the fabrication, functionalisation, reactivity and application of magnetic nanostructures in the biomedical sciences; and investigations of biomineralised nanoscale minerals related to neurodegenerative disorders.

Professor Peter Ogrodnik, Senior Lecturer in Medical Devices Design – a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Peter has conducted research into optimising the treatment of tibial fractures for over 20 years. Having founded two medical device companies himself, he has enhanced the application of engineering design principles to the solution of medical devices and his book Medical Devices Design is a core text in core R&D departments. In 2021, he received the Inspire, Support, Achieve Award from the Institution of Engineering Designers for his work to establish the charity ENG4, providing engineering solutions relating to healthcare during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Gianpiero Di Leva, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology – His research focuses on his long-standing interest in exploring the molecular roles of non-coding RNAs (ribonucleic acid) in determining cell fate changes and gene regulation. He aims to identify vulnerabilities in cancer cells and define innovative way to target them.

Dr Jan-Herman Kuiper, Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics – Jan has extensive experience in the use of Finite Element-based computer models for design optimisation, modelling of hydrated tissues and bone, and biological processes such as adaptive bone remodelling and fracture repair. One of his long standing interests is the control of biological processes through mechanical conditions, in particular, mechanical guidance of skeletal tissue formation, and the development and pre-clinical testing of joint replacement implants, bioresorbable orthopaedic devices and bone substitution products.

Dr Wen-Wu Li, Senior Lecturer in Analytical Biochemistry – Having previously worked on anticancer drug discovery and development in Chengdu Diao Pharmaceutical Group, China, Wen-Wu’s research explores drug discovery and development, as well as bioengineering of peptides and antibodies for biomedical application in cancer and infectious diseases.

Dr Abigail Roberts, Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering – Abigail’s research interests are multidisciplinary; utilising bioengineering, spectrometry and spectroscopy to advance healthcare technologies and understanding. Primary focuses are to move analytical technology and practices to the non-invasive or non-destructive routes.

Professor Karina Wright, Professor in Orthopaedics and Tissue Engineering – Focused on developing biological therapies for orthopaedic and spinal cord injury patients.

Dr Alan Richardson, Reader in Pharmacology – Alan leads teaching of pharmacology, including option topics focusing on oncology molecular therapeutics, and as the Group Lead for the Cancer Research Group, his research seeks to discover new treatments for cancer with a major focus on ovarian cancer.

Dr Alan Harper, Senior lecturer in Physiology – His research interests lie in the calcium signalling mechanisms that control the activation and aggregation of human platelets in responses to physiological stimuli, which allows them to clot upon damage to the blood vessel wall. This can also trigger them to clot inside intact, inflamed blood vessels, causing deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke.

Dr Oksana Kehoe, Senior Lecturer in Inflammation Biology – Oksana’s research is focused on understanding mechanisms of rheumatoid arthritis progression and possible treatments, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), mesenchymal stem cell conditioned medium and mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles.

Dr Charlotte Hulme, Lecturer in Regenerative Medicine  – Her work focuses on using ‘omic (transcriptomic, quantitative proteomics and metabolomics) and bioinformatics approaches coupled with biochemical/ molecular biology techniques to address significant questions in orthopaedics.

Dr Tina Dale, Lecturer in Applied Biomedical Science.

Dr Pooya Davoodi, Lecturer in Pharmaceutics