Research output per year
Research output per year
Prof
Accepting PhD Students
PhD projects
Chondrocyte clocks and osteoarthritis
Exercise and clocks in the musculoskeletal system (cartilage and intervertebral disc)
Clocks and skin ageing
Clocks and breast cancer
We use transgenic animal models, clinical samples, circadian time series -omics, quantitative live imaging and machine learning algorithms to investigate the roles of circadian clocks in ageing and age-related diseases. Underpinning mechanisms identified will be targeted by pharmacological and other non-invasive approaches to slow down tissue degeneration and promote repair. We are also interested in a "circadian medicine" approach to tailor existing therapies according to the internal body clocks for better clinical outcomes.
Qing-Jun Meng is a Professor of Chronobiology, and the Associate Dean for Internationalisation (Research & Innovation) in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, at the University of Manchester. He is the Theme Leader of the Chrono-Matrix research theme within the Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, the Co-director of the Wellcome Trust Immuno-Matrix in Complex Diseases PhD programme. He is also the co-founder of the Biosciences International Summer School (BIO-SISS) in the School of Biological Sciences. He is the Secretary of the British Society for Matrix Biology (BSMB), a Council Member of the International Society for Matrix Biology (ISMB), and the Chair of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) Cartilage Biology and Pathology 2027 (Vice Chair 2025). He is the recipient of the University of Manchester Distinguished Achievement Medal Award - the FBMH Researcher of the Year 2024.
In 2009, Qing-Jun (MD and PhD) was awarded a Medical Research Council Career Development Award Fellowship on clocks, ageing and age-related diseases. In 2015, he was awarded an Arthritis Research UK (Versus Arthritis) Senior Research Fellowship to continue his work into the roles of circadian clocks in health and disease of the musculoskeletal system. In 2017, he was promoted to a Professor of Chronobiology.
Age is the single biggest risk factor for a wide spectrum of diseases. The rapid population ageing calls for better understanding of the various biological processes underlying age-related pathologies. Among these are circadian rhythms, the endogenous 24 hour cycles governing nearly all aspects of our physiology and behaviour. In mammals (including humans), this rhythm is generated by the master clock (suprachiasmatic nucleus, SCN) in the brain, which entrains to the light/dark environment and co-ordinates the various peripheral clocks in most major body organs and cells. Circadian clocks are the internal timing mechanism that drives endogenous circadian (near 24 hour) rhythms in sleep/wake cycle, hormone release and behaviour. Circadian clocks control ~10% of our transcriptome in a tissue-specific manner. During ageing, our body clocks gradually lose precision. Consequently, this loss of synchrony both with the 24 hour light/dark environment (external misalignment) and with the other organs (internal misalignment) imposes significant risks of developing human conditions and diseases, including skin ageing, musculoskeletal degeneration and cancer. Research in this laboratory aims to 1) Identify mechanisms underlying age-related changes in circadian rhythms in the brain and peripheral organs. 2) Establish functional significance of various tissue clocks in coordinating physiology to local demands. 3) Explore the hypothesis of utilizing body clock mechanisms in order to ameliorate disease progression and improve patient responses to therapies.
Previously, our research has contributed to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of circadian clock regulation (Neuron 2008; Curr Bio 2010; Nucleic Acids Res 2014; PLoS Genetics 2020; eLife 2022) as well as the pharmacological resetting potentials of clock-acting compounds (J Cell Sci 2008; J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2009; PNAS 2010). Our more recent interest is the interface between circadian biology and extracellular matrix homeostasis in the context of ageing and age-related disease, including osteoarthritis (Arthritis & Rheum 2013; Osteoarthritis & Cartilage 2015/2021/2023; J Clin Invest 2016; Nat Rev Rheum 2016; Sci Advances 2022; Nature Comms 2023; Nature 2023), intervertebral disc degeneration and back pain (Annals Rheum Dis 2017/2021; Matrix Biology 2023a), collagen secretion, fibrosis and tendinopathies (Sci Rep 2014; Genes & Dev 2014; Nature Cell Biology 2020; Matrix Biology 2023b) and breast cancer (Nature Comms 2017; J Cell Sci 2018, Breast Cancer Res 2018; J Cell Sci 2019; PNAS 2024; Cancer Letters 2025).
Qing-Jun MengProfessor of Chronobiology Associate Dean for Internationalisation (Research & Innovation), Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health +44 (0)161 306 8912 ; qing-jun.meng {at} manchester.ac.uk |
Michal DudekPost-doctoral Research Associate |
Dharshika PathiranageLab manager |
Ruby ChrispPost-doctoral Research Associate |
Shiyang LiPost-doctoral Research Associate |
Laura CampbellPost-doctoral Research Associate |
Tawan PolsilapaPhD student |
Natalie RogersPhD student |
Megan LianPhD student |
Dingwei WangPhD student |
Charles GyasiPhD student |
Maxie Ter-GrigoryanPhD student |
Zeyad El-Houni - PhD (Boots No.7 Beauty Company)
Rebecca Preston - Kidney Research UK Clinical PhD Studentship
Ziyad Alhamdan - MSc Tissue Engineering and Regenerative MedicineMarkella Petropoulou - MSc Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Cátia F. Gonçalves - PhD (Wellcome Trust Molecular and Cell Biology)
Honor Morris - PhD (MRC DTP studentship)
Hussain Jaffery - Post-doc Research Associate
Venkatesh Mallikarjun - Post-doc Research Associate
Nan Yang - Post-doc Research Associate
Mark Naven - PhD (EPSRC/MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine)
Lauren O’Brien – MSc Life Sciences
Luke Macgregor - MSc Precision Medicine
Jack Williams - PhD (BBSRC DTP Studentship)
Baoqiang Guo - Post-doc Research Associate
Pilar Vazquez - Post-doc Research Associate
Eleanor Broadberry - MRes student
Yifan Yu - MSc Neuroscience student
Rebecca Stanford - Nuffield Foundation student
Joseph Timothy - MRes student
Laura Whiteley - MSc student
Ding Jin - Research Technician
Nicole Gossan - PhD MRC Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Indrayani Ghangrekar - Research Assistant
Vanja Pekovic-Vaughan - Post-doc Research Associate
Biosciences International Summer School, BIO-SISS
Final Year Course: Clocks, Sleep and Rhythms of Life
Wellcome Trust Immuno-Matrix in Complex Disease (ICD) PhD course: Introduction to the Extracellular Matrix
2nd Year Biomedical Science Tutorial
3rd Year Biology Tutorial
Final Year Project Students
Placement Students
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Preprint/Working paper › Preprint
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Lucas, R. (PI), Bechtold, D. (PI), Fustin, J.-M. (PI), Ashe, H. (PI), Brown, T. (PI), Blaikley, J. (PI), Brass, A. (PI), Chandola, T. (PI), Durrington, H. (PI), Else, K. (PI), Hepworth, M. (PI), Hunter, L. (PI), Kadler, K. (PI), Kitchen, G. (PI), Loudon, A. (PI), Macdonald, A. (PI), Mcbeth, J. (PI), Milosavljevic, N. (PI), Rattray, M. (PI), Rutter, M. (PI), Sharrocks, A. (PI), Spiller, D. (PI), Storchi, R. (PI), Belle, M. (PI), Meng, Q.-J. (PI), Allen, A. (PI), Dixon, W. (PI), Gibbs, J. (PI), Hazel, A. (PI), Papalopulu, N. (PI), Ray, D. (PI), White, M. (PI) & Chang, J. (PI)
Project: Research
Swift, J. (PI), Caswell, P. (CoI), Chang, J. (CoI), Clarke, R. (CoI), Couper, K. (CoI), Dyer, D. (CoI), Eckersley, A. (CoI), Gilmore, A. (CoI), Hadjidemetriou, M. (CoI), Hayes, A. (CoI), Hepworth, M. (CoI), Hussell, T. (CoI), Knight, D. (CoI), Kostarelos, K. (CoI), Lennon, R. (CoI), March, P. (CoI), Meng, Q.-J. (CoI), Menon, M. (CoI), Piper Hanley, K. (CoI), Reid, A. (CoI), Sharrocks, A. (CoI), Sherratt, M. (CoI), Thornton, D. (CoI), Unwin, R. (CoI), Wong, J. (CoI) & Woolner, S. (CoI)
1/07/24 → 28/02/25
Project: Research
Meng, Q.-J. (Recipient), 1 Oct 2015
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Meng, Q.-J. (Recipient), 1 Oct 2009
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Meng, Q.-J. (Recipient), 31 Jul 2012
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Meng, Q.-J. (Recipient), 30 Jul 2013
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Meng, Q.-J. (Examiner)
Activity: Examination › Research
Meng, Q.-J. (Secretary)
Activity: Membership › Membership of board › Research
Meng, Q.-J. (Examiner)
Activity: Examination › Research
Meng, Q.-J. (Academic expert member)
Activity: Membership › Membership of council › Research
Meng, Q.-J. (Creator), PRoteomics IDEntifications Database, 2021
https://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/cgi/GetDataset?ID=PXD019431
Dataset
22/07/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert comment
14/01/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
14/11/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
23/09/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research