Hybrid 3D printed and tissue engineered bioreactors - applications to the neuromuscular system

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is the conduit for the afferent and efferent signals that control human movement. There are multiple reasons that physiologically-relevant models are vital for the understanding of normal and pathological processes such as motor control (normal) or motor neurone disease (pathological); it is intrinsically difficult to study mechanisms at the cellular level in living organisms hence the need for highly accurate in vitro models. This project builds on over a decade of published and funded expertise in the use of tissue engineering principles to create and use such models stemming from work in skeletal muscle (SkM) that has expanded to include the tissues that SkM interfaces with - including neural systems.

Specifically the project will aim to utilise 3D printing technology to generate a custom "bioreactor" enabling 3D tissue engineered neuromuscular constructs to be integrated in a "plug and play" style. This perfusion system will be automated allowing live biological feedback and optimisation of the perfusion protocol, reducing handling times and ultimately cost, whilst increasing the quality of representative data being generated from each biological condition.

This project lies at the interface of biology and chemistry, and involves design and 3D printing techniques. It is ambitious but aligns with a larger research agenda and will provide the student with an interdisciplinary training regime that will benefit them in the longer term.