Interdisciplinary Skills and Training Team

Dr. Catherine Berry is a Reader in Cell Engineering in the Centre for the Cellular Microenvironment (CeMi) within the Institute of Molecular, cell & Systems Biology at the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on using synthetic nanoparticles such as magnetic or gold for applications in biomedicine, as well as cellular derived particles such as extracellular vesicles (EVs) and the influence these have on stem cells and cancer cells in 2D and 3D culture systems.

Dr Pola G. Oppenheimer is Reader in Micro-Engineering and Bio-Nanotechnology, and a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the School of Chemical Engineering and the Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI). Her high-impact and trend-setting research focuses on nanostructured surfaces developing sophisticated technologies to realise advanced micro-engineered diagnostic devices.

Dr Ger O’Connor leads the NCLA laser research group at NUI Galway. His group provides graduate research training in short pulse laser material interactions and works closely with industry on applied research projects.

Dr Ewan Ross is a Lecturer in Immunology in the School of Biosciences based within the College of Health and Life Sciences at Aston University. His multidisciplinary research focusses on the expansion and immuno-regulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells for anti-inflammatory, regenerative translational therapies.

Elaine is the 2021 CDT student representative from the University of Glasgow. Her research is focused on bioengineering 3D adipose organoids for type 2 diabetes drug discovery.

Martha is the 2022 CDT student representative from Aston University. Her research is focused on designing biomimetic neural materials for scalable 3D cell culture.