The inaugural CITER Best Paper prize

was presented to Dr Adam Midgley,

School of Medicine for his paper on

“MicroRNA-7 inhibition rescues age-

associated loss of EGF receptor and

hyaluronan-dependent differentiation in

fibroblasts” Aging Cell (2014), 13(2):

235–244.

The research that led to my

publication in Aging Cell stemmed from

the first two years of my PhD under the

guidance of Dr. Robert Steadman and

Professor Aled Phillips, Section of

Nephrology, School of Medicine.

Following on from findings that

established the loss of Epidermal

Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) as a

major factor in the loss of aged

fibroblast functionality and failure of

differentiation into scar-forming myofibroblasts, my research explored avenues of explanation for

these phenomena. One field in particular that has been emerging over the past few years is the

study of microRNAs (miRs), these small non-coding and ~22 nucleotide-long RNA molecules are

involved in epigenetic regulation and function in an RNA silencing manner to regulate gene

expression. Analysis of the 3’ untranslated region (an area targeted by miRs) of the EGFR gene,

reveals highly conserved seed sites for miR-7. (Continued on page 3)

Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering

and Repair

Athrofa Peirianneg ac Adfer Meinwe Caerdydd

www.cardiff.ac.uk/citer

May 2015 24th Edition

CITER NEWS

CITER Best Paper Prize

Inside this Issue:-

Thoughts from the CITER Chair 2

CITER Best Paper Prize 3

CITER Drug Delivery and Microscopy 4

CITER Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy 5

CITER Travel Bursary R. Moses 6

CITER Travel Bursary E. Board Davies 7

CITER Travel Bursary Dr. G. Whatling 8

What CITER Soc meant to us 9

From CITER MSc to Harvard 10

CITER MSc in Tissue Engineering 11

CITER Soc Cuisine curiosity 12

CITER in the Community 14

CITER Members News 14/15

CITER Committees 15

Forthcoming Events 16

Dr Alison Paul, Chair CITER Research Committee

presents Dr Adam Midgley, School of Medicine with his

CITER Best prize.

I am delighted to welcome you to the latest

edition of the CITER newsletter, my first as

Chair as I take over the reins from Phil

Stephens. I am incredibly proud to have been

entrusted with this role by the Executive

Committee, not something I expected when I

completed my term as chair of the Research

Committee back in September.

I must say a huge ‘thank you’ to Phil for

his excellent leadership over the last four years.

CITER has continued to grow over that time

and is in good health as I step into the breach. It

is therefore a good time for me to look forward

as I begin my tenure. For me, CITER has led

the way in our University in terms of

multidisciplinary working, cross-school

collaboration and driving an integrated

approach to research and science. We continue

to provide a remarkable facility for researchers

across the University who are interested in all

aspects of Tissue Engineering and

Regenerative Medicine to meet, discuss their

research (current or aspirational), provide

clinical direction to facilitate translation of basic

research, disseminate our work

and engage with government,

funders and the general public.

As the University’s

changes become embedded, CITER can

provide a strong and successful template and

itself can lead cross-college working. We also

have a significant role to play within the GW4

and the Research Committee are busy

organising “Advances in Regenerative

Medicine: the road to translation” which will be

the 3rd South West Regional Regenerative

Medicine Meeting held in conjunction with our

GW4 partners and colleagues from the South

West. The first two Regional meetings held in

2011 and 2012 were an enormous success and

generated excellent presentations and

opportunities for networking. I would encourage

you all to attend this year’s

meeting that is being held at

Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury

House, Congresbury, Bristol

22nd and 23rd September.

Embedded now in CITER’s activities

are our bursaries, seed-corn funding and

prizes. The leading article in this newsletter

acknowledges one of these prizes and my

congratulations go to Dr Adam Midgley on the

award of the CITER Best Paper Prize. We are

fortunate to be able to offer such bursaries and

prizes and judging by the applications last year

I expect them to be as competitive this year.

Critical to sustaining the long-term future of

CITER is maintaining the support of CITER’s

principal investing Schools and the Colleges. I

will be meeting with all participating Heads of

Schools and College PVCs to outline CITER’s

strategic development for the next few years.

However, CITER exists because of its

members and if you have any thoughts on the

network and how you would like to see it

develop then I would like to hear from you. I

look forward to working with you all as your

chair.

Alastair Sloan @ProfAlSloan

Looking back over the past four years that I

have been the chair of CITER one word

springs to my mind – ‘privileged’. Privileged to

work with fantastically intelligent and exciting

researchers across a wide range of disciplines

and privileged to work with the wonderfully

dedicated CITER administrators without whom

we would have no CITER network across

Cardiff University. As the Research Theme

structure develops across the College of

Biomedical and Life Sciences it is particularly

satisfying to look back and realise that CITER

led the way, driving and defining cross-

disciplinary research across the University for

the past twelve years. Also, satisfying is the

fact that CITER was responsible for the

formation of GW3 (Cardiff, Bath and Bristol;

albeit in a somewhat smaller format!) before

GW4 was even considered. So, having looked

back, what about the future for CITER? I see

an incredibly hopeful future for our network

with the developing inter-disciplinary research

themes the drive to (Continued on page 3)

Thoughts from the new CITER Chair

Page 2

CITER NEWS

CITER—from the outgoing Chair

Caption describing picture or graphic.

(Continued from page 1)

Gene expression analysis showed a significant increase in the expression of miR-7 in aged

fibroblasts, when compared to young. This correlated with the loss of EGFR over increasing cellular

passage. Through manipulation of miR-7 expression using transfection techniques, including the

forced overexpression (pre-miR transfection) and removal of activity (locked nucleic acids), I was

able to induce an aged phenotype in young cells and a young phenotype, capable of differentiation,

in aged fibroblasts, respectively. In summary the balance of miR-7 and EGFR expression was the

key factor in determining whether fibroblasts could differentiate into myofibroblasts. In addition,

pathway regulators, such as hyaluronan and CD44, were affected as a result of miR-7 manipulation

– highlighting the importance of the EGFR signalling axis in determining a fibroblast’s differentiation

potential.

The third year of my PhD was dedicated to researching the transcriptional regulation of

miR-7, itself. Since then, I have identified cytokines involved in the promotion of miR-7 transcription:

TGF{beta}1 & EGF (weak activation) and IFN{gamma} (strong activation). The pathway responsible

for the increase of expression was found to be the JAK/STAT1 pathway, suggesting an

immunoregulator role. Furthermore, I have implicated a role for the oestrogen-derivative, 17{beta}-

oestradiol, in the suppression of miR-7 transcription. I am currently in the process of finalising a

research paper, with plans to submit within the following months.

Glyn Morris, PhD student with both the Section of Nephrology, School of Medicine/ Dr.

Robert Steadman, and the School of Dentistry’s Wound Biology Group/ Dr. Ryan Moseley, is now

investigating the clinical

implications of miR-7.

Glyn is researching the

roles of EGFR and

miR-7 in the

development and

progression of chronic

non-healing wounds, a

research area I will be

following with great

interest.

Dr Adam Midgley,

School of Medicine

Page 3 24TH EDITION

CITER Best Paper Prize

CITER—from the outgoing Chair (Continued from page 2)

work more effectively across Colleges and the developing realisation that cost-effective networks

like CITER are key in supporting excellence across the University. Ultimately though it is up to us,

the CITER members, to make this happen as the future success of our network is very much

dependent on our individual commitments and the desire to demonstrate how important these

network structures are. So, as I take on my new role within College of Biomedical and Life Sciences

and step down as chair of CITER I offer a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to you all and I find myself with a

contented ‘smile’ safe in the knowledge that this is the beginning of a new chapter in the research

future of our University, a University whose research success to date has most definitely been

underpinned by CITER and all your hard work.

Phil Stephens, School of Dentistry

Caption describing picture or graphic.

The Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences hosted the CITER Drug delivery

and Microscopy Mini-Symposium, 4th March, 2015, with the objective to highlight some

pioneering work that is ongoing both within Cardiff University and the UK within these fields. The

organisers were delighted that 75 people attended, representing several Cardiff University

schools including Chemistry, Dentistry, Engineering and Pharmacy.

Following a welcome introduction by Prof. Gary Baxter, Head of the School of Pharmacy

and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the podium was taken over by the plenary speaker, Prof.

Cameron Alexander, Nottingham University. Under the title: “Synthetic Polymers and Biological

Responses”, he discussed the multidisciplinary science underpinning his work on polymers and

polymer therapeutics. He highlighted how polymers are contributing to the fight against multidrug

resistant bacteria, to providing platforms for the culture of stem cells and as sensors for

detecting and targeting diseased cells.

This set the scene for two technology talks

focused on microscopy. The first was presented by Dr

Peter Watson from the School of Biosciences focusing on

fluorescence microscopy. He clearly demonstrated how

knowledge of the workings of microscopes is fundamental

to generating good quality images. Using the analogy of a

squirrel cracking a nut he showed how bad images can be

transformed into good images simply by knowing what you

are doing with the microscope. Just like a squirrel knows

what it’s doing with a nut (Fig. 1).

This was followed by Dr Lewis Francis of Swansea

University, an expert on Atomic Force microscopy (AFM).

Using his research in reproductive biology and

gynaecology he demonstrated how AFM can be used to

address a number of biological questions including those in

drug delivery. His “‘Lap on a Tip” could provide important

answers to questions in several CITER research remits.

Coffee break was followed by a talk by John Hilton, Business Development officer at

Cardiff University who highlighted opportunities for researchers offered by the Knowledge

Transfer Partnership scheme (KTP). He emphasised how KTP schemes can lead to exciting

research and innovation and also impact. At the end of his talk we were reminded that he is very

happy to advise us on the suitability and managing of projects (HiltonJ2@Cardiff.ac.uk).

Liposomes have attracted much interest as drug delivery vectors and Dr Wayne Nisho

Ayre from Dentistry brought us back to the world of polymers and antimicrobials by introducing

us to research that he and colleagues are performing in this field. He demonstrated how loading

of liposomes with antibacterial agents such as Triclosan can be used to more effectively treat

inflammation of dental pulp tissue.

Professor Mark Gumbleton from Pharmacy ended the seminar session by asking an

important question: “Biological Barriers: what’s all the fuss about?” He explained that biological

barriers can take many forms, beyond that of physical hurdles such as membranes. He

highlighted the differences between different type of epithelial barriers and (Continued on page 5)

Page 4 24TH EDITION

CITER mini symposium “Drug

delivery and Microscopy”

Fig. 1. The master nut cracker. It

knows exactly what to do to crack

a nut. Dr Pete Watson

demonstrated how the fluorescent

microscopy nut could be cracked to

get high quality images.

Page 5

CITER NEWS

Dr

Sharon Tsang, Assistant

Professor, Department of

Rehabilitation Science,

Hong Kong Polytechnic

University, presented a

talk on one of the

dilemmas for Clinical

Physiotherapists -

whether to mobilise or

stabilise structures. She

presented clinical

scenarios including knee

osteoarthritis, rotator cuff

syndrome and lumbar

spondylosis to demonstrate a multi-managment approach that is often necessary when treating

these disorders. She highlighted the link between different segments of the kinetic chain and

illustrated the progression from a local soft tissue dysfunction in one motion segment can

progress to the adjacent motion segment to and in some cases to another body segment. She

discussed how disease progression can result in an interplay between mobility and stability and

how this may affect symptom presentation management approaches, which may include

strengthening muscles, enhancing motor recruitment, mobilising joints and soft tissues.

Dr Valerie Sparkes, School of Healthcare Sciences

CITER Seminar “To mobilise or to

stabilise: Clinical dilemma for Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy”

CITER mini symposium Drug Delivery and Microscopy (Continued from page 4)

how seemingly subtle changes in drug properties can lead to large increases in drug

bioavailability. He also discussed that the journey to intracellular targets for small and large drugs

is not over if the plasma membrane is penetrated. Therapeutics may also need to penetrate

endolysosomal membranes or the nuclear membrane to reach their intended targets. A major

challenge for drug delivery.

The talks marked the end of official proceedings but attendees then had a chance to

reflect on the day’s play and chat over a glass of wine in the Pharmacy Cyber Café. This

networking event was sponsored by Life Technologies and representatives were

on hand to demonstrate the “Simply Stunning” capacity of one of the Evos

microscopes that they had bought along with them.

Reading the feedback forms confirmed to the organisers that the speakers had delivered

and contributed to a great afternoon of science. Our thanks to those who attended and to Life

Technologies for supporting this event.

Prof Arwyn Jones, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Genotypic identification of the mechanisms underlying the preferential stimulation

of keratinocyte wound healing responses by novel epoxy-tigliane pharmaceuticals

in vitro by Rachael Moses, School of Dentistry

My CITER Travel Bursary allowed me to spend two months at the Drug Discovery

Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia (http://

www.qimr.edu.au/page/Lab/Drug_Discovery/), to progress my PhD elucidating how

epoxy-tiglianes, EBC-46 and EBC-211, mediate exceptional dermal wound healing in

vivo. EBC-46 and related compounds occur within seeds of the Fountain’s Blushwood

Tree; indigenous to Queensland’s Tropical Rainforest. Australian biotechnology

company, QBiotics (http://www.qbiotics.com/), has demonstrated that EBC-46 stimulates

exceptional dermal healing during animal cancer studies; and is developing EBC-46 as

an anti-cancer agent. However, little is known how EBC-46 induces dermal healing, manifested as

accelerated wound re-epithelialisation, closure and reduced scarring. My PhD

focusses on how EBC-46 and less active analogue (EBC-211), induce these

exceptional wound healing effects in fibroblasts and keratinocytes.

Before visiting QIMR, I showed that

epoxy-tiglianes have anti-proliferative and limited migratory

fibroblast effects. In contrast, epoxy-tiglianes stimulate

keratinocyte proliferation and migration, supporting enhanced

re-epithelialisation in treated skin. My PhD has since focussed

on epoxy-tigliane mechanisms underpinning enhanced

keratinocyte proliferation and migration. Thanks to my Travel

Bursary, I was able to collaborate with Microarray and

Bioinformatics specialists at QIMR under Group Leader, Dr

Glen Boyle. At QIMR, I learned how to perform Microarray and

Bioinformatics studies, through access to resources/expertise

unavailable within CITER. Studies highlighted key genes

differentially expressed in EBC-46- and EBC-211-treated

keratinocytes versus untreated controls, many of which help

explain their stimulatory effects on proliferation and migration,

including keratins, cell cycle, cytokine/growth factor; and cell

signalling-related genes. I also presented my PhD/Microarray

work at a QIMR Research Meeting.

These studies are extremely beneficial to my PhD,

allowing the identification of genes involved in mediating

enhanced keratinocyte proliferative and migratory responses;

so promoting our understanding of epoxy-tigliane mechanisms

of action during dermal wound healing. These findings are

included in PCT (PCT/AU2014/050018) and have helped foster

further CITER, QBiotics and QIMR collaborations, including a

recently successful NHMRC Development Grant

(Co-Applicants: Moseley, Steadman). Ultimately, successful

validation of epoxy-tigliane efficacy may provide novel

treatments for impaired healing, chronic wounds or excessive

dermal scarring. Many thanks for this fantastic opportunity!

CITER Travel Bursary

Page 6

CITER NEWS

Figure 1: Heatmap visualization

through hierarchical clustering of

genes differentially expressed ≥2-fold

in keratinocytes in the presence of

0.001mg/ml, 0.1mg/ml or 10mg/ml EBC

-211, versus untreated controls at (A)

24h and (B) 48h. Data from the four

biological repeats were grouped for

combined analysis between treatment

conditions and to the untreated

control. Red = up-regulated genes,

Green = down-regulated genes.

Research visit to the Karolinska Institutet: Do oral progenitor cells contribute to the

development of oral Graft-Vs-Host disease by Emma Board Davies, School of Dentistry

Oral mucosa lamina propria-progenitor cells (OMLP-PCs) are a recently identified PC

source derived from the buccal mucosa with potent immunosuppressive properties through

the release of soluble factors. Recently it has been demonstrated that bone-marrow

mesenchymal stem cells, in addition to their immunosuppressive phenotype, possess

antibacterial properties. Taken together and the knowledge that many immunosuppressive

factors also possess antimicrobial properties, we hypothesise that OMLP-PCs exhibit

antimicrobial properties, which can be exploited in the treatment of immune-related disorders with

microbial involvement.

I have previously demonstrated that OMLP-PCs exhibit antibacterial properties, with the focus of

my research now on elucidating the mechanism and its relevance within the disease context. Graft

versus host disease (GVHD) is a complication associated with allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell

transplantation, caused by an attack on the patient’s organs by the donor T cells within the transplanted

material. The development of oral GVHD, commonly manifesting as mucositis, is accompanied by a

change in the oral microflora.

The aim of this project in collaboration with Professor Le Blanc at The

Karolinska Institutet (KI), Sweden was to understand the potential change in phenotype

of OMLP-PCs during oral GVHD development and determine whether these cells demonstrate a reduced

antibacterial action contributing to the development of oral lesions and impaired oral wound healing.

No discernable differences in the responsiveness to inflammatory or bacterial stimulus of OMLP-

PCs derived from GVHD patients compared to healthy controls were observed. This was assessed by

the mRNA expression and secreted levels of antimicrobial factors such as osteoprotegerin (OPG) (Fig. 1)

and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase IDO (Fig.2). There were also no differences in mRNA expression of toll

-like receptors in OMLP-PCs derived from GVHD patients compared to heathy donors.

My current findings suggest no difference in the phenotype of GVHD and healthy control OMLP-

PCs with regards to the above immunomodulatory and antimicrobial factors. My current research focuses

on determine whether these cells differentially

regulate the growth of live bacteria when in

co-culture.

CITER Travel Bursary

Page 7

CITER NEWS

Fig. 1: Levels of OPG secreted from healthy and GVHD

OMLP-PCs in response to a combination of

Interferon-gamma (IFNy), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and

peptidoglycan (PGN). The GVHD cells secreted similar

levels of OPG compared to healthy OMLP-PCs.

Fig. 2: Levels of IDO activity (measured via the

secretion of the metabolite L-kynureinine) from

healthy and GVHD OMLP-PCs in response to a

combination of interferon-gamma (IFNy),

lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and peptidoglycan (PGN).

The OMLP-PCs derived from GVHD patients display the

same IDO activity levels compared to cells derived

from healthy patients. OMLP-PCs demonstrate high

levels of IDO activity upon IFNy stimulation.

CITER Travel Bursary

Page 8

CITER NEWS

Research Visit to the University of Leuven: Exploring knee joint forces in

patients with osteoarthritis by Dr Gemma Whatling, School of Engineering

In September 2014, a £700 travel bursary from CITER allowed me to visit

KU Leuven. I spent my time in the Human Movement Biomechanics

Research Group working with Dr Ilse Jonkers and her research team.

The purpose of this visit was to advance my knowledge of

musculoskeletal software, OpenSim, and to produce a model that can be

used to estimate knee loading from patient gait data collected at Cardiff.

During my research visit, I worked closely with Leanne, a PhD student, to

test several model adaptations for estimating knee load of patients with knee

osteoarthritis (OA).

OA is a degenerative joint disease where articular cartilage deteriorates, causing joint

stiffness and pain. In cases where it affects one side of the joint, a varus or bowlegged deformity

can occur. This can be corrected though a surgery called high tibial osteotomy (HTO), which

realigns the joint. Part of my current research is to estimate forces inside the knee joint before and

after surgical intervention.

I had previously only used an OpenSim model that represents a knee

as a hinge. This visit allowed me to use a model employed at the University

of Leuven and to adapt it to explore more complex definitions of the knee. Models with 2 and 3

degrees of freedom at the knee were investigated. Other adjustments to attempt to more

accurately model knee load were the inclusion of ligaments and patient specific knee varus angle.

This collaboration is ongoing and further work is being conducted to determine the optimum

model to use for this application. The outputs from this research will provide quantitative

information on the changes in joint loading following HTO and establish whether a HTO has the

desired benefit to patients.

This visit has facilitated collaboration between Cardiff and Leuven, where both centres

have a significant interest in osteoarthritis. I would like to extend my thanks to Dr Ilse Jonkers,

Leanne Zevenbergen and team for making me welcome during my visit to Leuven and for being

generous with their time, skills and sharing of models. This made the research trip very productive

and developed a collaboration that I hope to be long lasting. Finally, I would like to thank CITER for

funding this research trip.

Fig. 1: Musculoskeletal modelling of gait Fig. 2: Knee model with

ligaments

When we took over as CITER Soc

Chairs in January 2014, the main task

presented to us: was to organise a

multidisciplinary workshop. However, over the

course of the year, CITER Soc has become so

much more to us than one workshop. In

particular, CITER have been increasing

involvement in public engagement activities,

and CITER Soc have been at the core of each

of the activities. We have both played an active

role in teams who visited Bryn Deri Primary

School, Abercynon Community Primary

School, Littledean Church of England Primary

School, and Rhiwbeina Primary School. As

well as engaging the pupils with activities such

as the operation man, maggot racing, and cell

making, we created new, informative

worksheets to accompany some of the

activities. We wanted to supplement the range

of hands-on activities already available with

something the children could take home to look

back on. Participating in these activities truly

enlightened us to the enormous amount of

behind-the-scenes organisation, creativity, and

dedication of the CITER members these

events require.

In addition to the school visits, we

volunteered during the “Science in Health:

Live” event for 6th form students, “Science of

Me”, Techniquest, “Biology Rocks”, National

Museum of Wales and the Learn about Life

day during National Science week for Year 6

pupils. At these events we again demonstrated

our newly acquired and detailed knowledge of

maggots and how to race them—a unique and

unforgettable experience to say the least!

These public engagement activities have given

us the confidence to talk about and promote

science to a huge range of people, age 8 to 80.

As the chairs, we sat on the CITER

Research and CITER Teaching, Learning and

Engagement committees, giving us an

understanding of how CITER is run from the

inside. We have made contacts across the

university, which, without CITER, would not

have been possible.

Even before our main event had

arrived, we had taken so much from being a

part of CITER Soc. The final and biggest task

was to organise an afternoon workshop. The

preparations included applying for and gaining

a grant to cover the cost of the event,

contacting potential speakers, as well as

organising a venue, catering, interactive

activities, advertisement, writing interim and

final reports and much more. Having never

organised such an event previously, we quickly

developed the skills needed along the way.

Our workshop, “Cuisine curiosity: the facts

about our food” was a success with attendees

from 12 different schools within Cardiff

University and others from outside the

University. Our audience ranged from under-

graduate students to professors – all engaging

with the breakout activities including “Portion

Distortion” and “Calorie Counter”.

Our experience as CITER Soc chairs

has been thoroughly enjoyable, and we must

give a huge thanks to Jane Graves, who has

provided us with vital support throughout the

year.

To the new CITER Soc committee;

Daniel Smith, Glyn Morris, Jordanna Dally,

Nidal Khatib, Aseel Ghazwan and Nada

Aldahlawi – Good luck! Want to play your part

in CITER Soc? Become involved and sit in the

committee this year. You will gain contacts,

skills and friends!

Emma Board Davies and Stacy Littlechild

What CITER Soc

meant to us

Page 9

CITER NEWS

Stacy Littlechild (left) and Emma Board

Davies (right) at the “Learn about Life” day

held in the School of Biosciences during

National Science week

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Expressing my warmest

gratitude to Cardiff University

and British Council for

nominating me to the Education

UK Alumni Awards 2015. It is

indeed an honor!

It was mid-week of

September, 2010 as I can recall

when I started my MSc in Tissue

Engineering at Cardiff University,

organized by Cardiff Institute of Tissue

Engineering and Repair (CITER). I specifically

chose this graduate program in tissue engineering

post my bachelor of dental surgery studies at

Cardiff University as it was among the few

institutes in Europe to offer this specialization.

After gaining invaluable experience in theory and a

number of research techniques, I was extremely

confident to apply what I learnt. It had provided me

with a firm grasp of knowledge in the subject. The

degree helped me secure a research scientist

position with a stem cell factory in San Marino and

later in India. While I was associated with CITER,

the program inspired me to

start first comprehensive

textbook on ‘Stem Cell

Biology and Tissue

Engineering in Dental

Sciences’ with global

discoverers and leaders in

the field signing my first

ever contract with the

Academic Press, Elsevier,

USA. This comprehensive

book was published earlier this year, and is

foreworded by Prof Robert S Langer, the pioneer of

tissue engineering from Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, USA.

Currently I hold a Postdoctoral Research

Fellowship at Harvard University in USA and also

affiliated to Harvard MIT Division of Health

Sciences and Technology. This is where the tissue

engineering science started in the late 1900’s and I

am honored to be a part now. At the

Khademhosseini Lab, my primary research

interest is to understand the physical and

biochemical properties of the extracellular

matrix (ECM) and further designing

cell-instructive biomaterials using micro- and

nano-scale technologies to model synthetic

somatic or stem cell niches for tissue

regeneration. Specific focus is on

vascularization, immunomodulation, bone,

cartilage and tumors.

The success of my first book has driven

to start working on another textbook, the first of

its kind on ‘Biology and Engineering of Stem

Cell Niches’ with publishers Elsevier, USA.

Alongside in commercialization and

translational biotechnology world, I closely work

with biotechnology companies committed to

discovering and delivering transformative

biomaterial and tissue engineering solutions for

medical problems, providing hope to millions of

people worldwide. The vision is to develop

advanced therapeutic and non therapeutic

tissue engineered products for healthcare and

to improve sustainability. Additionally I lecture

internationally promoting this discipline of

science.

Acknowledgements – Drs. Sophie

Gilbert, Ryan Moseley and Robert Steadman,

Professors Vic Duance, Alastair Sloan, and Phil

Stephens.

Ajaykumar Vishwakarma, Post-doctoral

Research Fellow in the Brigham and Women’s

Hospital, Harvard Medical School at Harvard

University, USA.

From CITER MSc to Harvard

Page 10 24TH EDITION

Figure 1: Schematic representation of an

innovative system aimed at developing a

personalized immune-modulatory hydrogel

component that will be adjustable for any

implant or medical device

Caption describing picture or graphic.

The current CITER MSc cohort of five

students (2014-15 entry) sat their Stage 1

Examinations in March 2015, and are now

commencing the laboratory-based Research

Projects/MSc Dissertations (Stage 2), they

have chosen and supervised by CITER staff

across the University.

Many thanks to all of you who

submitted project titles for the current student

cohort, who after a great deal of deliberation

chose the following projects:-

Zakaria Al-Taan. Elucidation of the resorptive

mechanisms leading to osteolysis of

regenerated bone around metal implants.

Supervised by Prof Rachel Waddington and

Prof Alastair Sloan (both DENTL).

Robert Knight. Oral mucosal lamina

propria-progenitor cells for amelioration of

acute kidney injury. Supervised by Prof Phil

Stephens and Dr Rachel Howard-Jones (both

DENTL).

Stephen McKenna. Stimulatory effects of

epoxy-tigliane pharmaceuticals on the wound

healing responses of primary epidermal

CITER MSc in Tissue

Engineering: Update

Page 11 24TH EDITION

keratinocytes in vitro. Supervised by Dr Ryan

Moseley (DENTL) and Dr Bob Steadman

(MEDIC).

Nadia Alaidaroos. Characterisation of

telomere length & CD271 expression as

potential markers of highly proliferative dental

pulp progenitor cell clones; & implications to

regenerative medicine. Supervised by Dr

Ryan Moseley and Prof Alastair Sloan (both

DENTL).

Katherine Lowe. Characterization of a novel

meniscus-specific stem cell. Supervised by

Prof Vic Duance, Dr Helen McCarthy and Dr

Sophie Gilbert (all BIOSI).

In other news, the

CITER MSc Committee

have agreed to the

introduction of a new

CITER MSc Module,

entitled ‘Stem Cells in Development and

Regenerative Medicine’, which will replace the

current ‘Innovation Environment’ Module from

2015-16 onwards. As the name suggest, this

Module will cover various aspects of stem cell

biology, from development through to their

applications in tissue engineering; and the

regulatory, ethical and commercial

implications of their use. The new Module will

be based in DENTL and led by the new

Module Leader, Dr Rachel Howard-Jones.

I have recently contacted relevant

members of CITER academic staff on their

availability to teach on the new Module; and

is currently under the new Module Description

for School Board review.

The Programme Committee are

currently receiving applications and

interviewing prospective students for the

2015-16 intake.

For more information on the CITER MSc

Programme, please contact the Programme

Director, Dr Ryan Moseley, School of

Dentistry (Moseleyr@cardiff.ac.uk)

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/dentl/degree

programmes/postgraduate/mscintissue

engineering/index.html

CITER MSc Students 2014-2015

(Left to Right back row) Zakaria Al-Taan, Rob

Knight and Stephen McKenna, (Left to Right

front row) Nadia Alaidaroos and Katherine

Lowe

CITER Soc, comprised

of postgraduate and

early career researcher

CITER members, held an annual workshop

on 3rd December 2014 in the School of

Optometry and Vision Sciences. Titled

“Cuisine curiosity: the facts about our food”,

the workshop aimed to educate attendees

about different aspects of food-related

research and nutrition value, or lack thereof,

of everyday food items.

Many topics were discussed by the

invited speakers, including: microbiology,

psychology, sociology/anthropology, and

chemistry. Cardiff Metropolitan University’s

Professor Rose Cooper started off the

workshop by discussing honey’s unique

antimicrobial and medicinal properties.

Supplementing her presentation, Prof.

Cooper provided a host of honey-containing

wound healing products, which attendees

were then invited to touch, smell, and

explore.

Delivering a psychological perspective

to the workshop, Miss Christina Potter, PhD

student, University of Bristol, reported on

child and adult portion preference. One of the

many interesting points Miss Potter made

during her talk was that children who

participated in her study, regardless if they

were classed as obese or not, preferred high-

calorie, low-nutrient foods, such as chips or

crisps, as compared to healthy alternatives,

such as a banana.

Professor Anne Murcott, School of

Cuisine curiosity: the

facts about our food

Page 12

CITER NEWS

Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),

University of London, discussed what role

society plays in making everyday food

choices. Prof. Murcott explained that our food

choices are influenced by sheer proximity and

convenience of foodstuffs, making our daily

diet much less our choice than we think.

To conclude the workshop, Dr. David

Baines, Baines Food Consultancy, provided

the keynote lecture. His presentation was

highly interactive and demonstrated that

flavours we associate with certain foods are

actually specific chemical compounds that our

brains have learned to recognize throughout

the evolution of the human brain. In addition,

Dr. Baines explained that people prefer

different tastes because the receptors that

recognize these flavours are unique to each

individual.

Participants were engaged in a variety

Supported by the University Graduate College

Gyda chefnogaeth Coleg Graddedigion y Brifysgol

Dr David Baines presenting his research on

the “Chemistry of Cooking”

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Page 13 24TH EDITION

of displays and games during the tea and

coffee break between sessions. Extensiveness

of added sugar in common foods and growing

portion sizes were portrayed in “Glucose

Glutton” and “Portion Distortion” stations. One

surprising fact revealed by “Glucose Glutton”

was that, although juices are thought to be a

healthy alternative to fizzy drinks, they often

have the same amount of added sugar.

“Juicy Jelly” and “Calorie Counter” were

games that challenged attendees’

preconceived notions about the relationship of

food colour to flavour and calorific values of

popular snacks and meals, respectively.

Results of the jelly game showed that, in many

cases, participants could not correctly identify

the flavour of jelly because its colour was

mismatched with food dye. For example, a

“Juicy Jelly” station—was that really about

discovering the attendees favourite jelly?

“Calorie Counter” Quiz— “Do you know how

many calories are in your food?”

yellow jelly was actually flavoured lime, green

was strawberry, and red was orange

flavoured. However, participants guessed

flavours such as strawberry for the red jelly,

demonstrating that we strongly associate

colour with flavour. Two unexpected flavours

suggested by participants included “potato”

and “water”, further reinforcing Dr. Baines’s

point that our flavour recognition systems are

highly unique.

Participants also struggled to correctly

match common meals with their calorific

values. In fact, Dr. Wayne Nisho Ayre, School

of Dentistry was the most successful at this

game and won with a score of 5/10 correct

calorie-to-meal matches.

The workshop was very well attended

with 66 participants. Attendees included a

mix of undergraduates, postgraduates, and

staff from Schools of Medicine; Pharmacy

and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Healthcare

Sciences; Engineering; Dentistry; Optometry

and Vision Sciences; Biosciences; Chemistry;

Planning and Geography; Journalism, Media

and Cultural Studies; Modern Languages,

and English, Communication and Philosophy.

A very big thanks to Kate Binley,

Chris Jones, Glyn Morris, and Ana Ries, who

helped oversee activity stations. Also, thank

you Glyn Morris and Wayne Ayre for your

help cleaning up after the workshop!

We have thoroughly enjoyed

preparing this workshop. We feel this

experience has equipped us with skills in

grant writing and event planning that will be

invaluable in our futures! We hope all who

participated enjoyed the day as much as we

did!

Stacy Littlechild (School of Optometry and

Vision Sciences) and Emma Board Davies

(School of Dentistry) CITER Soc Chairs

Thank you to Stacy

Littlechild and Emma Board

Davies for Chairing CITER Soc in

2014.

Caption describing picture or graphic.

On Monday 8th December 2014, I attended the South East Wales

Academic Health Science Partnership (SEWASHP) meeting at the

Cardiff City Stadium on behalf of CITER with Jane Graves. There

were a number of prominent speakers at the meeting most notably

Dr Andrew Goodall the Chief Executive of NHS Wales and the Welsh Government’s Director

General for Health and Social Services.

All of the speakers highlighted the wide range of opportunities that SEWASHP provides for

collaborating with colleagues from industry, government, Health Boards and

universities to drive forward innovation in research to improve the health and

wealth of the people of Wales. It was heartening to note that the Welsh

Wound Innovation Centre (WWIC) led by CITER’s Professor Keith Harding

was highlighted as an example of how an innovative and collaborative

approach can result world leading research that delivers the best possible outcomes for patients in

prudent and cost effective manner.

The CITER stand at the SEWASHP meeting also proved to be extremely popular with

people who attended the meeting as we highlighted the work that CITER does in engaging with the

public in local schools and the work of the Post Graduate students. We had a number of props that

are used to engage the public with the work of CITER, but the props highlighting the life cycle of

maggots and the role that they can play in wound healing appeared to be the most popular.

I enjoyed attending this meeting and I came away feeling inspired and motivated to make

the most of the opportunities that are available to work collaboratively with colleagues from different

sectors with a shared interest in improving the health and well-being of the people of Wales. I was

especially proud to be asked to represent CITER and delighted by the response that out stand got

at themeeting. I look forward to representing CITER at another public event soon.

Dr Ray Samuriwo, School of Healthcare Sciences

CITER in the Community

Page 14 24TH EDITION

New members: Baida Ajel Badir AL-Omairi (ENGIN), Dr James Bell (OPTOM), Jennifer

Davies (HCARE), Paulina Genzels (CHEMY), Dr David Houston (PHRMY), Dr Alison Jack

(DENTL), Dr Philippa Jones (ENGIN), Craig Joyce (MEDIC), Nidal Khatib (ENGIN), Dr Emma J.

Kidd (PHRMY), Dr Susan Peirce (ENGIN), Dr Lydia Powell (DENTL), Hope Roberts-Dalton

(PHRMY), Ishaak Saleem (ENGIN), Dr Brad Spiller (MEDIC), Dr Ramesh Swaminathan (ENGIN),

Dr Christopher Thomas (PHRMY), Dr Ajaykumar Viswakarma (Honorary), Wenji Wang

(ENGIN) and Dr Andrew Westwell (PHRMY).

CITER Members News

Viva success: Ayesha Al-Sabah (BIOSI) “ The Role of Canonical and Non-Canonical Wnt

Signalling Pathways in Load-induced Cartilage Degradation” (Supervisors: Dr Emma Blain and Prof

Vic Duance). Narawadee Choompoo (BIOSI) “Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell for Cell

Replacement Therapy in Huntington's disease” (Supervisor: Prof. Anne Rosser). Andreas Heil

(DENTL) “Development of a novel 3D human cartilage model system to investigate changes in

cartilage associated with osteoarthritis” (Supervisors: Prof. Daniel Aeschlimann and Prof. Rachel

Waddington).

Page 15 24TH EDITION

Fellowship: Congratulations to Dr Liba Sheeran (HCARE) who has been awarded an RCBC

Fellowship for the development of the ‘Physio in the Pocket TM’ (PiP) device. This innovative

health technology device aims to revolutionise rehabilitation for back pain sufferers by utilising

inexpensive smart phone technology. Sensors attached to the spine will sense movement and feed

information back to a smart phone.

CITER Committee Member Changes

Over the last few months there have been a number of changes to the membership of

the CITER Committees. So thank you to the following members for all of their

contributions:

Executive Committee — Prof Phil Stephens (Dentistry).

Research Committee — Dr Ian Brewis (Medicine), CITER Soc representatives:

Emma Board Davies (Dentistry) and Stacy Littlechild (Optometry & Vision Sciences).

New Horizons: Dr Narawadee Choompoo (BIOSI) has taken up the post of Lecturer in the

Anatomy department, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Thailand.

Dr Charlene Geater (BIOSI) post doc in Professor Leslie Thompson laboratory, California

Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of California, USA. Research includes investigating

the SUMO post-translational modifications on Huntingtin protein in IPS derived neurons and then

looking to modulate this modification as this has been shown to be beneficial in a mouse model of

Huntington's disease.

CITER Executive Committee: Prof Alastair Sloan (Chair: Dentistry), Dr Bronwen

Evans (Medicine), Dr Debbie Mason (Biosciences), Prof Jean-Yves Maillard (Pharmacy

& Pharmaceutical Sciences), Dr Alison Paul (Chemistry), Dr James Redman

(Chemistry), Dr Valerie Sparkes (Healthcare Sciences), Prof Andrew Quantock

(Optometry & Vision Sciences) and Dr Chris Yang (Engineering).

CITER Research Committee: Dr Alison Paul (Chair: Chemistry), Dr Craig Boote (Optometry

& Vision Sciences), Dr Tim Bowen (Medicine), Dr Sophie Gilbert (Biosciences), Prof Arwyn Jones

(Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences), Dr Samantha Haven (Research & Innovation Services), Dr

Joel Loveridge (Chemistry), Dr Liba Sheeran (Healthcare Sciences), Prof Rachel Waddington

(Dentistry), Dr Gemma Whatling (Engineering) and CITER Soc representatives: Glyn Morris

(Medicine) and Daniel Smith (Chemistry).

CITER Learning Teaching and Engagement Committee: Dr Valerie Sparkes (Chair:

Healthcare Sciences), Dr Sion Coulman (Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences), Prof Vic Duance

(Biosciences), Prof Arwyn Jones (Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Studies), Dr Emma Lane (Pharmacy

& Pharmaceutical Studies), Dr Ryan Moseley (Dentistry), Dr Bob Steadman (Medicine) and Dr

Fiona Wylie (Biosciences) and CITER Soc representative: Jordanna Dally (Dentistry).

Current CITER Committee Members

Viva success continued: Paul Rimmer (HCARE) “ Using biomechanics and MRi changes

in Anterior Cruciate Ligament injured subjects to consider the implications for the development of

knee osteoarthritis” (Supervisors: Prof. Robert van Deursen and Dr Valerie Sparkes, supported by

Dr Paulien Roos and Dr Kate Button). Nicole Scully (MEDIC) “Differentiation of osteoblasts to

osteocytes in 3D type I collagen gels - a novel tool to study osteocyte responses to mechanical

loading" (Supervisors: Dr Bronwen Evans and Dr Debbie Mason).

www.cardiff.ac.uk/citer

Advances in Regenerative Medicine:

the road to translation

3rd South West Regional Regenerative Medicine Meeting,

Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury House

Congresbury, Bristol

Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd September 2015

Plenary speakers:

Professor Bruno Péault, Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh.

Dr Nick Crabb, Programme Director – Scientific Affairs, Centre for Health Technology

Evaluation, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Keynote speakers include:

Professor Robert Kelsh, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath;

Professor C. Peter Winlove, Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter;

Winner of the CITER Young Investigator Award—to be announced, Cardiff University.

Abstract call closes Friday 22nd May: Early bird registration closes 14th August.

Prize for the PhD winners of the “Best Poster” and “Best Oral” presentation. All postgraduate

students will be automatically entered for the oral/poster presentation prize.

Further details can be found at www.cardiff.ac.uk/citer/newsandevents/

Forthcoming Events 2015

Cardiff University is a registered charity, no. 1136855

Mae Prifysgol Caerdydd yn elusen gofrestredig, rhif 1136855

@CITERInst

CITER is an established interdisciplinary network, linking more than 150

researchers and academic staff from 10 Schools across Cardiff University. CITER

is internationally recognised for its expertise in basic, translational and clinical

research in the field of tissue repair, regeneration and rehabilitation.

Benefits: Clinical and research contacts, networking, SMEs, industry, ASM, seminars and

workshops, administrative support.

If you would like to become a CITER member, please contact: Jane Graves, CITER

Administrator, GravesJA@cardiff.ac.uk for an application form.

Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER), 10 Museum Place,

Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3BG. Tel: +44 (0) 2920 870129/ x70129

CITER Membership