- Research group leader in the Division of Cell-Matrix Biology and Regenerative Medicine 

Tissue Repair

Tissue injury and repair in most organs involves a change in cellular composition and the remodelling of extracellular matrix components. The overall goal of our studies is to understand the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in normal turnover of extracellular matrix (ECM) during tissue repair, the way these processes are altered leading to excessive healing (scarring/fibrosis) and to identify ways of regulating these processes therapeutically. Our research aims to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in ECM remodelling by analysing clinical specimens, manipulating experimental in vivo models and developing human airway three-dimensional co-culture systems.

An extremely common problem of surgery in the abdomen is peritoneal adhesion formation where organs, which should normally be separate, become joined by fibrous bands of tissue. Peritoneal adhesions can cause major complications such as intestinal obstruction, chronic pelvic pain and infertility in women. Our previous histological and ultrastructural studies have shown that adhesions were well vascularised and surprisingly well innervated. Current studies are aimed at understanding the role of the initial wound matrix, deposited as a fibrin-rich clot between injured surfaces, and the fibrinolytic proteases involved in its breakdown. We have shown that a defect in fibrin removal results in an accumulation of collagen which leads to subsequent fibrosis and adhesion formation.

As well as surgery, other pathological conditions including endometriosis and peritoneal metastasis are associated with adhesion formation. Mesothelial cells that line the peritoneal cavity and internal organs provide a protective lubricated surface barrier however, can be induced to undergo a transition into scar producing fibroblasts under pathological conditions. An main area of interest is identifying the drivers and signalling pathways regulating this process and how this may be involved in adhesion formation.

Deputy Head for School of Biological Sciences

We are using a number of experimental systems including three-dimensional cell culture systems, in vivo experimental models and human biopsy tissue analysis, as well as a range of cellular, histological, molecular and biochemical techniques to elucidate mechanisms regulating tissue repair disorders.

PhD in Biological Sciences: The Healing of Venous Leg Ulcers. Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, 1994. BSc (Hons) in Biology Grade 2:1, University of Manchester, 1987