In collaboration with Dr Eric Hill at Aston University and the lifETIME CDT, we are offering a fully-funded studentship for UK “Home” students.

Designing biomimetic neural materials for scalable 3D cell
Developing therapies and prevention strategies to tackle neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, requires an understanding of the brain cells that are affected. Whilst extensive informative research has been conducted over the past decades using animal models, there remains a significant gap in knowledge surrounding the mechanisms underlying brain cell dysfunction. Recently, there has been a scientific revolution in the field of stem cell-derived neurons, whereby patient’s skin cells can be turned into brain cells in the lab. Bringing biological methods together with advances in materials, artificial brain cell circuits can be produced to mimic the structure of brain tissues. Whilst stem cells provide scientists with the many different cell types as building blocks to fabricate human neuronal systems, engineering approaches need to be adopted to present these with the necessary three-dimensional complexity of human brain tissue. This project will develop a 3D biomaterial scaffold to display multiple neuro-developmental signaling factors to mimic brain architecture development.

About the lifETIME CDT
The lifETIME CDT focuses on developing animal free technologies for drug discovery, toxicology screening and regenerative medicine. We have a strong commitment to develop technologies that replace and reduce use of animals in research. Further to this, we aim to reduce and replace the use of all animal derived components for our in vitro biological research.