Consortium for organotypic research on ageing and microgravity

Launched in May 2022, under the auspices of the Institute of Physics, our consortium provides a collaborative platform for pioneering research and draws together skills and expertise from across the UK to study the effects of extreme environments on human biology. It brings together academics from several biological and engineering backgrounds, including bioengineering, Space physiology and biomedicine, shock physics, materials engineering and fieldwork research.

Projects range from studying the behaviour of engineered (organotypic) tissues in simulated microgravity through to the shock response of materials and tissue analogues, allowing us to better understand changes during material ageing, injury and abnormal mechanics. The work is being conducted with support from both research councils and industrial partners (e.g. EPSRC, NC3Rs, as well as industrial and defence collaborators).

Our capabilities combine 4D biomanufacturing, X-Ray based diagnostics and bespoke bioreactors with a range of unique capabilities for hypervelocity and impact testing (at Cranfield Defence and Security, an MoD training establishment).

Our team

Dr Alexandra Iordachescu
Consortium Lead and Principal Investigator
School of Chemical Engineering
Email: a.iordachescu@bham.ac.uk

Professor Gareth Appleby-Thomas
Professor of High Strain-Rate Material Response for Defence Applications
Head of the Centre for Defence Engineering
Survivability & Advanced Materials
Email: g.thomas@cranfield.ac.uk

Partners

• University of Birmingham
• Cranfield Defence and Security