Research issue
Stem cells drive development of the fertilised human egg to form the diverse cell types of the body. We recapitulate these processes in the laboratory to model the initiation and progression of human disease.
Stem cell-derived sources of heart, liver and brain cells help us study diseased tissues that are not normally accessible from patients. We study genetic, epigenetic, nutritional and metabolic disorders to find treatments and use high through-put robotics to enable the search for safe new drugs.
What we are doing about the issue
- Develop multidisciplinary stem cell technologies at the basic level and to initiate translational research towards the clinic
- Develop high throughput approaches to enable the drug discovery process
- Work closely with clinical and industrial end users to maximise our impact
- Train the next generation of researchers through our pioneering MSc in Stem Cell Technology
Outcomes
Our work on human pluripotent stem cells is used to model heart disease and to generate hepatocytes to model metabolic disorders.
Watch video: How do you mend a broken heart?
We use mesenchymal stem cells to study bone formation and neural stem cells to understand Alzheimers.
Our stem cell models are uncovering how epigenetic mechanisms regulate human development. Our high throughput robotic capability provides unique screening capabilities to maximise the potential of our cell models.
Awards
Since our formation in 2008 we have attracted a research funding portfolio of over £8M from BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, British Heart Foundation, Heart Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Industry.
Publications
Our research is published in leading peer-reviewed journals. See individual staff publication records.