Research Grants

Staff within the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models (CPM) currently hold a large portfolio of grants directly related to the development and use of predictive in vitro models.

The following are examples of current funded research projects, specifically related to predictive in vitro models and led by members of the CPM:

  • Developing a rapid diagnostic to track the spread of an emerging fungal pathogen in East London
    Kieran Bates
    £73,168 Barts and the London Charity
    01-04-2026 - 30-09-2027
  • Unique molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning palmoplantar epidermal homeostasis and disease
    Diana Blaydon, David Kelsell and Gernot Walko
    £1,105,888 Medical Research Council
    01-04-2026 - 31-03-2029
  • Vagina microbiome organ chip for testing of biotherapeutics to treat BV
    Tina Chowdhury and Ruairi Robertson
    £50,000 Tommy's
    01-04-2026 - 31-03-2028
  • Newton International Fellowship alumni: Dynamics of a microcapsule (Dalei Jing)
    Yi Sui
    £6,000 Royal Society
    31-03-2026 - 30-03-2027
  • ECMAP MSCA PF 2024 Fernandez-Yague/Lu
    Marc A. Fernandez-Yague
    £205,111 EU Commission - Horizon Europe
    01-02-2026 - 31-01-2028
  • FROGMICRO Host control and symbiont counter-adaptation in the microbiome ERC STG 2025 Bates
    Kieran Bates
    £1,181,557 EU Commission - Horizon Europe
    01-02-2026 - 31-01-2031
  • The power of AI to transform women?s careers - towards an equal future
    Tina Chowdhury
    £14,600 University of London
    01-02-2026 - 31-01-2027
  • A 3-way deep investigation of DLK1 as a key modulator and target of ACC to develop innovative target
    Leonardo Guasti
    £142,904 Nefkens Adrenal Cancer Foundation
    01-01-2026 - 31-12-2028
  • DOES ENDOTHELIAL NOTCH4 DRIVE ATHEROSCLEROSIS?
    Paul Evans and Neil Dufton
    £303,428 British Heart Foundation
    01-01-2026 - 31-12-2028
  • Integrating mechanobiology with fluid dynamics to predict accelerated coronary artery disease
    Paul Evans, Andreas Baumbach, Panagiotis Deloukas and Christos Bourantas
    £944,699 British Heart Foundation
    01-12-2025 - 30-11-2030
  • BBSRC CTP The Role Of Senescent Fibroblasts And Melanophages In Melanin Clearance
    Cleo Bishop and John Connelly
    £136,489 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COacT Feasibility of the CallaVid Platform for the Delivery of Live Biotherapeutics for the Restoration of the Vaginal Microbiome
    Tina Chowdhury, Stefaan Verbruggen and Ruairi Robertson
    £46,623 Calla Lily Clinical Care Ltd.
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COaCT - Development of a vascularised muscle-tendon inflammation-on-a-chip model
    Hazel Screen and Martin Knight
    £166,623 UCB Pharma SPRL 
    Grant Summary

    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COacT PhD Studentship_Band A 25/26 - Heart-joint On A Chip
    Lucy Norling, Thomas Iskratsch and Jianmin Chen
    £171,868 SynAct Pharma ApS, Denmark
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COacT PhD Studentship_Band C - PERSONALISED VESSEL-ON-A-CHIP
    Paul Evans and Thomas Iskratsch
    £46,623 ibidi GmbH
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COaCT- A multi-organ model for breast cancer metastasis to bone and liver
    Martin Knight
    £46,623 CN-Bio Innovations Ltd
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • Generate and test a cutting-edge Organ-on-a-Chip technology for Polycystic Kidney Disease
    Maria Fragiadaki and Thomas Iskratsch
    £123,105 Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • Role of the mechano-lipid matabolic signalling axis in cardiovascular disease
    Thomas Iskratsch, Nicolae Radu Zabet and Qingzhong Xiao
    £919,939 British Heart Foundation 
    Grant Summary

    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2030
  • The Role of Senescent Fibroblasts and Melanophages in Melanin Clearance
    Cleo Bishop and John Connelly
    £81,600 Unilever UK Ltd
    01-10-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • COaCT - An organ-chip model of inflammation in the canine cartilage-synovium interface
    Stefaan Verbruggen and Martin Knight
    £159,868 Zoetis LLC 
    Grant Summary

    29-09-2025 - 28-09-2029
  • COaCT - Tissue in a Tube Bioreactor Screening of Bioresorbable Composites for Bone Repair
    Karin Hing
    £120,000 Baxter Healthcare Corporation
    29-09-2025 - 28-09-2029
  • ARC catalyst grant
    Adrian Biddle
    £25,000 Animal Free Research UK
    01-09-2025 - 31-08-2026
  • COactT PhD Studentship - Band B - Haleon - Metabolic and immune interactions in the oral mucosal host-microbial interface
    Abish Stephen, Robert Allaker and Simon McArthur
    £96,000 Haleon PLC
    01-09-2025 - 30-09-2029
  • Does BCAA-induced excitoxicity link metabolic disease & dementia
    Simon McArthur and Patrick Pallier
    £4,945 Alzheimer's Research UK
    01-09-2025 - 31-08-2026
  • Engineering functional tissues by spatiotemporal patterning: 3D bioprinting and optogenetics for directing the organization of cell spheroid building blocks (OPTO-BIOPRINTING)
    Josephine Wu
    £685,186 Wellcome Trust 
    Grant Summary

    15-08-2025 - 14-08-2030
  • Determining the mechanisms of human tau pathology clearance to inform therapeutic development
    Cara Croft
    £549,747 Alzheimer's Society
    01-08-2025 - 31-07-2030
  • Fluid Dynamics of Microfluidic Cell Mechanoporation for Intracellular Gene Delivery
    Yi Sui
    £12,000 Royal Society
    01-08-2025 - 31-07-2027
  • Human Tendon-CHIP: Novel In Vitro Predictive Models To Explore Tendinopathy
    Hazel Screen, Xavier Griffin and John Connelly
    £668,842 Medical Research Council 
    Grant Summary

    01-08-2025 - 31-07-2028
  • Investigating the roles of endogenous retro viruses as regulators of gene expression in the endometrial epithelium
    Miguel Branco
    £731,019 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    28-07-2025 - 27-07-2028
  • Oligodendronics: Engineering biology for scalable neural interfaces
    Christopher Chapman
    £403,666 ARIA Advanced Research and Invention Agency 
    Grant Summary

    01-07-2025 - 31-12-2026
  • Role of Keratins and Keratin Regulators in Thymus
    Ines Sequeira and David Kelsell
    £74,521 Barts and the London Charity
    06-05-2025 - 05-05-2026
  • (uPSCale) Scaling up iPSC Expansion and Differentiation using Recombinant Bioemulsions
    Julien Gautrot
    £118,175 EU Commission - Horizon Europe
    01-05-2025 - 31-10-2026
  • Developing a Personalized Drug Screening Platform for Diabetic Microangiopathy
    Thomas Iskratsch
    £4,500 Diabetes UK
    01-05-2025 - 10-06-2028
  • The influence of a complex in vitro tumour microenvironment on cancer stem cells metastasis
    Adrian Biddle and Ana Caetano
    £547,066 National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research
    01-05-2025 - 30-04-2028
  • Biomaterials and tissue regeneration - RAEng Research Chair Sept 2024 KA Hing
    Karin Hing
    £209,059 Royal Academy of Engineering 
    Grant Summary

    28-04-2025 - 27-04-2030
  • EVs characterization in rheumatoid arthritis
    Elisa Corsiero and Lucy Norling
    £72,500 Barts and the London Charity
    21-04-2025 - 20-10-2026
  • Does endothelial EPAS1 protect arteries from atherosclerosis progression?
    Paul Evans and Federica Marelli-Berg
    £217,281 Barts and the London Charity
    01-04-2025 - 31-03-2029
  • Dissecting palmoplantar wound healing in health and disease
    Diana Blaydon, Emanuel Rognoni and David Kelsell
    £188,791 Barts and the London Charity
    06-01-2025 - 05-01-2029
  • ULTIMATES MSCA PF 2023
    Yi Sui
    £206,086 EPSRC - EU Scheme
    12-11-2024 - 11-11-2026
  • Anti-inflammatory and Pro-resolving profiles of south Africa medicinal plants
    Mauro Perretti and Roberto Buccafusca
    £282,802 Royal Society
    07-10-2024 - 06-10-2026
  • AI driven Omics Data Integration and Transfer Learning for Target and Biomarker Identification
    Conrad Bessant
    £127,935 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2028
  • Micro-manufacturing of tissue patterned organ-chips for accelerated deployment of new medicines
    Martin Knight, Hazel Screen, Julien Gautrot, Timothy Hopkins, John Connelly, Liisa Blowes and Xavier Griffin
    £1,787,725 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 
    Grant Summary

    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2027
  • BBSRC AIDD CTP CASE Award: Syed Zayyan Masud
    Conrad Bessant
    £21,600 Nxera Pharma UK Ltd
    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2028
  • Clock-Chips - Incorporating the Circadian Clock into Organ-on-a-Chip Technology
    David Lee and Lei Su
    £387,326 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    01-10-2024 - 31-12-2026
  • Extracellular Vesicle Communication for Nociceptive Processing In Acute And Chronic Pain
    Mauro Perretti
    £783,380 MRC Medical Research Council
    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2029
  • The role of novel mechanosensitive complex in cardiomyocyte pathophysiology
    Thomas Iskratsch and Andrew Tinker
    £254,588 BHF British Heart Foundation 
    Grant Summary

    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2027
  • The Role of Peripheral Neuroglia In Oral Spuamous Cell Cancer
    Ana Caetano and Adrian Biddle
    £317,529 MCSBHT Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust
    01-10-2024 - 31-12-2027
  • Unravelling mechanisms of drug-induced myocarditis using immune-responsive human cardiovascular chip
    Yung-Yao Lin and Julien Gautrot
    £121,420 MRC Medical Research Council
    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2028
  • Unravelling mechanisms of drug-induced myocarditis using immune-responsive human cardiovascular chip
    Yung-Yao Lin and Julien Gautrot
    £20,000 AstraZeneca UK Limited
    01-10-2024 - 30-09-2028
  • Establishing a physiologically relevant in vitro model of blood development
    Stefaan Verbruggen
    £11,413 National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research
    01-09-2024 - 31-08-2027
  • Investigating lipid dysregulation in ALS derived stem cell lines
    Agnes Nishimura
    £254,101 MNDA Motor Neurone Disease Association
    01-09-2024 - 31-08-2027
  • EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Organ-on-a-Chip Technology (COaCT)
    Hazel Screen, Martin Knight, Thomas Iskratsch, Caroline Roney, Yi Sui, David Lee, Julia Shelton, Zion Tse, John Connelly, Adrian Biddle and Lucy Norling
    £7,066,811 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 
    Grant Summary

    01-07-2024 - 30-09-2032
  • Mechanisms underlying preterm birth in women with HIV in rural Zimbabwe
    Andrew Prendergast, Ruairi Robertson, Melanie Smuk, Claire Bourke, Nikolaos Donos, Robert Allaker, Abish Stephen, Conrad Bessant, Stefaan Verbruggen and Tina Chowdhury
    £1,142,315 Medical Research Council
    01-05-2024 - 30-04-2027
  • Repurposing Alpha-1-antitrypsin as a treatment for post-traumatic osteoarthritis
    Mauro Perretti and Magdalena K Kaneva
    £566,515 MRC Medical Research Council
    01-05-2024 - 30-04-2027
  • Generation of functional adrenocortical organoids from mice and humans and their preclinical testing
    Leonardo Guasti
    £485,578 MRC Medical Research Council
    15-04-2024 - 14-04-2027
  • International Exchanges: Forging a new collaboration on the molecular control of EndoMT in atherosclerosis
    Paul Evans
    £12,000 Royal Society
    31-03-2024 - 30-03-2028
  • Thermochemical patterning to generate Bionanoarrays: Studentship Rachel Smyth
    Thomas Iskratsch
    £9,000 Heidelberg Instruments Nano AG
    18-01-2024 - 17-01-2027
  • Artery-on-a-Chip
    Thomas Iskratsch
    £103,372 Novo Nordisk Foundation (Denmark)
    01-01-2024 - 31-12-2026
  • Epithelial Exchange Surfaces – From organizing principles to novel culture models of the gatekeepers of the body
    Martin Knight, Hazel Screen, Wen Wang, Clare Thompson and Cleo Bishop
    £260,676 EPSRC - EU Scheme 
    Grant Summary

    01-12-2023 - 30-11-2027
  • Extreme heat and preterm birth in rural Zimbabwe
    Andrew Prendergast, Andrew Russell, Melanie Smuk, Tina Chowdhury and Stamatina Iliodromiti
    £460,148 Wellcome Trust
    01-10-2023 - 30-09-2028
  • Genotypic, Phenotypic and Metabolic Characterisation of Skin Sentinels
    Matthew Caley and Simon McArthur
    £75,600 Unilever UK Ltd
    01-10-2023 - 30-09-2027
  • Martina Occhetta CTP Studentship - Exscientia Funded
    Conrad Bessant and Emma Tjong
    £8,600 EXSCIENTIA LIMITED
    01-10-2023 - 30-09-2027
  • TG: Target identification from multiomics data using systems biology and machine learning approaches
    Conrad Bessant
    £125,917 BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    01-10-2023 - 30-09-2027
  • Epigenetic targeting in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to overcome resistance to ICB
    Oliver Pearce
    £252,508 Barts and the London Charity
    01-09-2023 - 31-08-2026
  • Epigenetic targeting of cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to
    Oliver Pearce and Angus Cameron
    £390,550 Barts and the London Charity
    01-06-2023 - 31-05-2026
  • Targeting epigenetic gene regulation in epidermolysis bullosa simplex
    John Connelly, Julien Gautrot and David Kelsell
    £199,751 Action Medical Research
    01-06-2023 - 31-05-2026
  • Biophysical regulation of nucleolar structure and function in senescent cells and ageing
    John Connelly and Cleo Bishop
    £554,319 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    15-05-2023 - 31-10-2026
  • Tommy’s National Preterm Birth Research Centre
    Stamatina Iliodromiti, Tina Chowdhury and Steven Thornton
    £432,791 Tommy's
    01-04-2023 - 31-03-2028
  • Endothelial GATA4 in Atherosclerosis Progression
    Paul Evans
    £379,319 Medical Research Council
    01-03-2023 - 30-11-2026
  • rhu-pGelsolin for treatment of arthritis
    Mauro Perretti, Magdalena K Kaneva and Shafaq Sikandar
    £460,135 BioAegis Therapeutics
    01-02-2023 - 31-12-2026
  • Precision Musculoskeletal Care
    John Whiteley, Costantino Pitzalis, Martin Knight, Greg Slabaugh and Xavier Griffin
    £3,343,542 National Institute for Health Research
    01-12-2022 - 30-11-2027
  • Incorporating physical cues in organ-chip models
    Hazel Screen and Martin Knight
    £20,000 Emulate Inc.
    01-10-2022 - 30-09-2026
  • REMODEL - ERC AdG 2021 Frances Balkwill
    Fran Balkwill
    £2,154,257 EPSRC - EU Scheme
    01-10-2022 - 30-09-2027
  • Human synovium-cartilage organ-chip for personalised surgical screening
    Martin Knight and Timothy Hopkins
    £311,203 Versus Arthritis
    01-04-2022 - 30-06-2026
  • Multi-User Equipment Grant,‘Cell DIVE Imager for automated, single cell, multiplexed immunofluorescence microscopy
    Cleo Bishop
    £340,339 Wellcome Trust
    01-01-2022 - 31-12-2026
  • Testing novel peptides
    Mauro Perretti
    £45,706 William Harvey Research Limited
    01-01-2022 - 31-12-2026
  • 3D perfusion bioreactor studentship Baxter - EPSRC DTP CASE Conversion 2021
    Karin Hing
    £30,000 Baxter Healthcare Corporation 
    Grant Summary

    21-09-2021 - 20-09-2027
  • The molecular mechanisms underlying the tumour-determined immune cell infiltrate in oral squamous cell carcinoma
    Adrian Biddle and Muy-Teck Teh
    £298,338 MCSBHT Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust
    01-09-2021 - 19-02-2027
  • A Centre of Excellence for Squamous Cancer
    Paul Coulthard, David Kelsell, Catherine Harwood, Adrian Biddle, Jun Wang and Tracy Connelly
    £2,675,828 Barts and the London Charity
    01-04-2021 - 31-01-2028
  • Reprogramming resolution in the arthritic joint
    Lucy Norling
    £720,853 Versus Arthritis
    01-09-2019 - 30-09-2026
  • Organ-on-a-chip Centre of Excellence
    Martin Knight and Hazel Screen
    £420,794 Emulate Inc.
    20-08-2019 - 01-10-2029
  • Engineering the fetal membranes
    Tina Chowdhury
    £40,000 Prenatal Charity UCL EGA INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH
    01-12-2018 - 01-10-2028