Nick Rhodes (biochemist)

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Nick Rhodes is a Reader in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Liverpool, in the U.K. Tissue Engineering can be described as the use of engineering techniques, including engineering materials and processes, in order to grow living tissues. Regenerative Medicine can be described as the treatment of defective tissues using the regenerative capacity of the body's healthy tissues. Rhodes describes the discipline as "aiming to repair tissue defects by driving regeneration of healthy tissues using engineered materials and processes."

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Biography

Nick Rhodes was born in Manchester, UK in 1966 and attended the University of Lancaster where he gained a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry. He gained a Masters in Bioengineering from the University of Strathclyde where he learned the basics of blood compatibility. He trained under Professor David F Williams at the University of Liverpool where he completed his Ph.D. in blood compatibility. He was awarded an Advanced Research Fellowship from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which allowed him the opportunity to broaden his research into biomaterials for Tissue Engineering. [1]

Rhodes continued his research at the University of Liverpool, being appointed a Lecturer within the faculty of medicine in 1999, followed by Senior Lecturer in 2003, then Reader in 2007. He had a prime role in the funding and design of the UKBioTEC laboratories and co-founded the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering, which exists as a specialised unit within the Division of Clinical Engineering. [2]

Rhodes has served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Adipose Tissue. [3] from 2006–2009 and is currently an Associate Editor of the scientific journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering. [4] He was appointed treasurer and officer of the governing board of the Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) in 2005 and has served as on the Medical Engineering EPSRC review panel since 2001. His research centres on soft tissue and cardiovascular tissue engineering and adult stem cells in regenerative medicine and is well known in European Commission funded projects.

He has been featured on the Regenerative Medicine Today newsite, [5] referenced on the BBC News site [6] and his fellowship work within the EPSRC site [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tissue engineering</span> Biomedical engineering discipline

Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biological tissues. Tissue engineering often involves the use of cells placed on tissue scaffolds in the formation of new viable tissue for a medical purpose, but is not limited to applications involving cells and tissue scaffolds. While it was once categorized as a sub-field of biomaterials, having grown in scope and importance, it can is considered as a field of its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regenerative medicine</span> Field of medicine involved in regenerating tissues

Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body's own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cell therapy</span> Therapy in which cellular material is injected into a patient

Cell therapy is a therapy in which viable cells are injected, grafted or implanted into a patient in order to effectuate a medicinal effect, for example, by transplanting T-cells capable of fighting cancer cells via cell-mediated immunity in the course of immunotherapy, or grafting stem cells to regenerate diseased tissues.

Stromal cells, or mesenchymal stromal cells, are differentiating cells found in abundance within bone marrow but can also be seen all around the body. Stromal cells can become connective tissue cells of any organ, for example in the uterine mucosa (endometrium), prostate, bone marrow, lymph node and the ovary. They are cells that support the function of the parenchymal cells of that organ. The most common stromal cells include fibroblasts and pericytes. The term stromal comes from Latin stromat-, "bed covering", and Ancient Greek στρῶμα, strôma, "bed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adult stem cell</span> Multipotent stem cell in the adult body

Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Also known as somatic stem cells, they can be found in juvenile, adult animals, and humans, unlike embryonic stem cells.

Stem-cell therapy uses stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. As of 2024, the only FDA-approved therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, but the cells can also be derived from umbilical cord blood. Research is underway to develop various sources for stem cells as well as to apply stem-cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Cardiomyoplasty is a surgical procedure in which healthy muscle from another part of the body is wrapped around the heart to provide support for the failing heart. Most often the latissimus dorsi muscle is used for this purpose. A special pacemaker is implanted to make the skeletal muscle contract. If cardiomyoplasty is successful and increased cardiac output is achieved, it usually acts as a bridging therapy, giving time for damaged myocardium to be treated in other ways, such as remodeling by cellular therapies.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells found in multiple human adult tissues, including bone marrow, synovial tissues, and adipose tissues. Since they are derived from the mesoderm, they have been shown to differentiate into bone, cartilage, muscle, and adipose tissue. MSCs from embryonic sources have shown promise scientifically while creating significant controversy. As a result, many researchers have focused on adult stem cells, or stem cells isolated from adult humans that can be transplanted into damaged tissue.

Amniotic stem cells are the mixture of stem cells that can be obtained from the amniotic fluid as well as the amniotic membrane. They can develop into various tissue types including skin, cartilage, cardiac tissue, nerves, muscle, and bone. The cells also have potential medical applications, especially in organ regeneration.

A fibrin scaffold is a network of protein that holds together and supports a variety of living tissues. It is produced naturally by the body after injury, but also can be engineered as a tissue substitute to speed healing. The scaffold consists of naturally occurring biomaterials composed of a cross-linked fibrin network and has a broad use in biomedical applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesenchymal stem cell</span> Multipotent, non-hematopoietic adult stem cells present in multiple tissues

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) also known as mesenchymal stromal cells or medicinal signaling cells, are multipotent stromal cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes and adipocytes.

A Muse cell is an endogenous non-cancerous pluripotent stem cell. They reside in the connective tissue of nearly every organ including the umbilical cord, bone marrow and peripheral blood. They are collectable from commercially obtainable mesenchymal cells such as human fibroblasts, bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells and adipose-derived stem cells as 1~several percent of the total population. Muse cells are able to generate cells representative of all three germ layers from a single cell both spontaneously and under cytokine induction. Expression of pluripotency genes and triploblastic differentiation are self-renewable over generations. Muse cells do not undergo teratoma formation when transplanted into a host environment in vivo. This can be explained in part by their intrinsically low telomerase activity, eradicating the risk of tumorigenesis through unbridled cell proliferation. They were discovered in 2010 by Mari Dezawa and her research group. Clinical trials for acute myocardial infarction, stroke, epidermolysis bullosa, spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, are conducted. Physician-led clinical trial for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was also started. The summary results of a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients with stroke was announced.

The in vivo bioreactor is a tissue engineering paradigm that uses bioreactor methodology to grow neotissue in vivo that augments or replaces malfunctioning native tissue. Tissue engineering principles are used to construct a confined, artificial bioreactor space in vivo that hosts a tissue scaffold and key biomolecules necessary for neotissue growth. Said space often requires inoculation with pluripotent or specific stem cells to encourage initial growth, and access to a blood source. A blood source allows for recruitment of stem cells from the body alongside nutrient delivery for continual growth. This delivery of cells and nutrients to the bioreactor eventually results in the formation of a neotissue product. 

Song Li is a Chancellor Professor and Department Chair of Bioengineering at University of California, Los Angeles. He received his Ph.D. in bioengineering from University of California, San Diego. Dr. Li was a Bioengineering faculty at University of California, Berkeley (2001-2015), and he moved to UCLA in 2016. His research is focused on cell engineering, mechanobiology, biomaterials, and regenerative medicine. He is well recognized bioengineer, and has been elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

The stem cell secretome is a collective term for the paracrine soluble factors produced by stem cells and utilized for their inter-cell communication. In addition to inter-cell communication, the paracrine factors are also responsible for tissue development, homeostasis and (re-)generation. The stem cell secretome consists of extracellular vesicles, specifically exosomes, microvesicles, membrane particles, peptides and small proteins (cytokines). The paracrine activity of stem cells, i.e. the stem cell secretome, has been found to be the predominant mechanism by which stem cell-based therapies mediate their effects in degenerative, auto-immune and/or inflammatory diseases. Though not only stem cells possess a secretome which influences their cellular environment, their secretome currently appears to be the most relevant for therapeutic use.

Matthew John Dalby FRSE is Professor of Cell Engineering at the University of Glasgow. His research is focused on mesenchymal stem cell interactions with nanotopography, with particular focus on the use of metabolomics, to study mechanotransduction.

Craniofacial regeneration refers to the biological process by which the skull and face regrow to heal an injury. This page covers birth defects and injuries related to the craniofacial region, the mechanisms behind the regeneration, the medical application of these processes, and the scientific research conducted on this specific regeneration. This regeneration is not to be confused with tooth regeneration. Craniofacial regrowth is broadly related to the mechanisms of general bone healing.

Katja Schenke-Layland is the Professor of Medical Technologies and Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department for Medical Technologies and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Tübingen. She is the Director of the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University Tübingen in Reutlingen, Study Dean of Medical Technologies at the University of Tübingen, and Founding Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the Medical Faculty of the University Tübingen. She is also the Founding Director of the 3R Center for In Vitro Models and Alternatives to Animal Testing Tübingen.

Erika Moore Taylor is a biomedical engineer, scientist, assistant professor, "Forbes 30 under 30 honoree," financial advisor, and the founder of a scholarship program that has been featured on CNBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stem cell fat grafting</span>

Stem cellfat grafting is the autotransplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) extracted from fat-abundant donor sites to other areas such as the face, breast, and hip to reconstruct the operative areas into desirable shapes. ADSCs are multipotent stem cells found in adipose tissues, displaying similar differentiation potentials to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs).

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20101105151626/http://www.tonynewton.com/epsrc%20spotlight.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. http://www.liv.ac.uk/clineng/index.htm [ bare URL ]
  3. http://www.greycoatpublishing.co.uk/content/Journals/IJAT.asp [ bare URL ]
  4. "SpringerLink - Annals of Biomedical Engineering". Archived from the original on 16 October 2011.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Human blood vessels grown in mice". 18 July 2008.
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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