Centre for Skin Sciences

My research is focussed on the complications of type 2 diabetes. Patients with T2DM have a poor wound healing response which can lead to chronic wounds and ultimately limb amputation. I have over 15 years experience of investigating the human vascular system using tissue kindly donated from patients undergoing surgery, both with and without diabetes. My main interest is how blood vessels and other cell types in the skin are affected by T2DM. By understanding this, we can try to improve wound repair in diabetes patients and minimise the need for amputation.’​

I am co-lead together with Prof Julie Thornton of the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit

Contact

Email

K.riches@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+44 1274 232145

David's research focusses on the use of ex vivo human and 3D reconstructed skin culture models as a translational system to investigate skin homeostasis and disease.

He has a keen interest in wound healing, which was the topic of my earlier career where I developed an ex vivo human skin wound model. I am hoping to use these models to better understand the causes of impaired wound repair. I also have research using skin equivalent models, including a PhD student who is examining questions related to skin ageing.

My lab has began to investigate skin when grown in co-culture with bacteria, which is an area I am looking to develop. I also have interests in hair diseases and am leading on industry funded work that is examining a new drug for alopecia using tissue samples taken from patients and cultured ex vivo.

Contact

Email

d.ansell@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+44 127423

My role involves developing novel technical insights and benefits for skin and skin appendages using translational research. Day to day I work closely with academic members of staff and the CSS business manager on projects funded by industry. This includes conducting and developing assays to investigate the effects of bioactive compounds on epithelial tissues such as skin, hair follicles and regulation of immune cells by flowcytometry. I also investigate the biology of skin and hair follicles in response to genetic, biological and environmental factors. My research interests include wound repair, oxidative stress and anti-oxidant systems; skin and hair follicle pigmentation and ageing processes. Recent industrial projects have included work on Alopecia Areata and characterising immune cell responses in skin and hair.

• M.Phil. Molecular Genetics of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer, Newcastle University
• Ph.D. Genetic Pathology of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Liverpool University

Contact

Email

s.k.sikkink@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

(01274) 233572

I have worked as a research assistant in the Centre for skin sciences since 2009. I have interests in in a wide range of lab-based methods from biochemical, cell biology to molecular biology and bioinformatics.

I am currently working on an industry funded project to develop hypotheses on cellular ageing in the female scalp.

Contact

Email

r.baker2@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

01274233572

https://www.bradford.ac.uk/staff/skauser

I graduated from the University of Bradford with a first class hons degree in Biomedical Sciences. My PhD thesis was in pigmentation biology looking at the regulation of hair follicle melanocyte biology by pro-opiomelanocortin derived peptides.

My research interests focus on the regulators of hair pigmentation, melanocyte ageing and hair greying and the mechanisms that regulate these. I am co-supervising a PhD looking at skin and hair ageing.

My teaching responsibilities include Year 2 Tutor for the Biomedical Science degree course as well as module leadership for undergraduate (Pathology, Developing Professional Skills 2) and post-graduate (Critical Appraisal of a current Topic in Biomedical Sciences) modules. I am currently involved in developing a Cosmetic Sciences specialism in the courses we presently run.

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Contact

Email

s.kauser@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

01274234685

We are collaborating with the Estée Lauder company, Aveda, to investigate how the scalp skin architecture and biological profile alters with age. Scalp skin has received little research attention in terms of ageing, yet it provides the optimal tissue environment to support our hair follicles, which decline in number and quality with age.​

This project has spanned 7 years, with our work the first to describe alterations in gene and protein expression within the ageing scalp follicle, as well as structural changes, including a thinner epidermis, disorganisation of collagen fibres and hair follicles no longer penetrating their supporting adipose tissue. ​

The hair follicle holds a reservoir of stem cells and exhibits many embryonic features. Our goal is to understand hair follicle ageing as a platform for biological ageing, with the overall aim of intervening in the ageing process to halt the detrimental impact of ageing on the skin and other tissues.’​

Contact

Email

m.j.thornton@bradford.ac.uk

My research interests span from cell-adhesion biology (melanogenesis and cancer metastasis) to microbiome mapping on human skin.

I established my independent research laboratory at Centre for Skin Sciences, University of Bradford in December 2019 when I was appointed as Lecturer in Skin Sciences.

During my PhD (University of Cologne) and postdoctoral training (CRUK, Glasgow), my research was focused on delineating how actin cytoskeletal machinery controls normal tissue development and its impact on disease. I have published several high impact publications [12 outputs, 8 H-index] and gained international recognition.

During my postdoctoral training, I began to develop research independence and successfully secured competitive Wellcome Trust ISSF Award as a Principal Investigator and since joining the university in 2019, I secured both internal and external funding (Royal Society) to support pilot research to generate preliminary data.

Cell attachment to the extracellular matrix (cell adhesion) is an indispensable process for normal tissue development and its aberrant regulation leads to pathological manifestations such as cancer. The cell adhesion process relies on coordinated activation of multiple proteins and signalling pathways, ultimately leading to rearrangement of the cellular cytoskeleton establishing a reciprocal communication with the extracellular matrix. While we know the molecular pathways involved in cytoskeletal regulation during cell adhesion, the underlying mechanisms of their regulations has not been elucidated.

Contact

Email

k.swaminathan@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+441274234174

Atopic dermatitis impacts the lives of between 1 in 10 and 1 in 20 Children in the UK with a strong correlation with changes in the skin microbiome. I am broadly interested in how the evolution and ecology of the skin's microbiome is influenced by host genetics, topical treatments, the environment and probiotics. The skins microbiome has also been reported to be a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes.

I also have a line of investigation in understanding the mechanisms that allow these to move between the skin's healthy commensal microbiome and invading pathogens such as those in wound infections and during atopic dermatitis. In the lab I utilise molecular microbiology, genetic engineering, evolutionary biology, microscopy, biochemical assays and bioinformatics to investigate these lines of investigation.​

Contact

Email

s.henderson2@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

012742

My research is currently focuses on the field of antimicrobial resistance, colonisation of biotic and abiotic surfaces by microorganisms, and subsequent biofilm formation.​

Biofilms are microbial communities that improve microbial fitness via protection from antibiotics, making them very difficult to treat. Understanding the biological and physicochemical processes involved in the formation and maintenance of these microbial communities is key to reducing poor-outcome states such as chronic wounds (particularly in diabetic patients) and burn infections. In addition, I develop new antimicrobial materials and compounds based on photocatalytic molecules to help break down biofilms and treat resistant infections

Contact

Email

a.scimone@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+441274232429

Dr Farshid Sefat is Programme Leader and Associate Professor in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Bradford (UK) and previously was head of Biomedical Engineering Department at King Faisal University (KSA) and also a Visiting Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology (New Jersey, USA).

His research is based on developing biomaterials to control cellular behaviour with particular emphasis in developing engineered materials for various tissue engineering applications. He is an author on >100 peer-reviewed journal articles, editorials and review papers and >100 book chapters/edited books. He is on the editorial boards and reviewer of >30 numerous journals including Materials Today, Acta Biomaterialia, IEEE, Bone, MDPI, Journal of Orthopaedics & Rheumatology, Materials Science and Engineering C, Journal of Biomechanics and many more.

Contact

Email

F.Sefat1@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+441274233679

My research is focussed on melanoma cancer, looking at drug resistance and new treatment options.​

The number of people developing melanoma is rising and treatment options are limited and have shown limited success in the clinic. The integrins contribute to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) promoting invasiveness and metastasis. Conversely, Vitamin D3 has been shown to reduce these processes. Patients deficient in vitamin D3 or those who have an insufficiency have poorer survival rates and higher recurrence rates. ​

Vitamin D3 has been shown to counter drug resistance and EMT. I am interested in looking at identifying new pathways and, together with the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, developing new strategies to target melanoma cancer.

Contact

Email

M.Sutherland@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

+441274236215

Professor Ajay Mahajan is the Director of Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU), a charitable fund hosted at the University of Bradford, Centre for Skin Sciences. The PSBRU was established in 1985 following the fire at the Bradford City football ground. Since then hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised to fund plastic surgeon fellows to carry out vital research at the PSBRU and in the process obtain a research degree at the University.

Professor Mahajan is Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trustand Research Lead for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In November 2019 he was appointed as Chair of Plastic Surgery at the University of Bradford.

Biography

• FRCS (Plast), 2008, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin
• MD in Plastic Surgery, 2008, National University of Ireland, Galway
• MMedSc in Plastic Surgery, 2005, National University of Ireland, Galway
• FRCSI, 1999, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin
• MB BS, 1992, Andhra University, India

Contact

Email

Ajay.Mahajan@bthft.nhs.uk

Professor Poterlowicz graduated in mathematics and applied statistics at the Wroclaw University in Poland. He further continued his education at the University of Bradford studying computational modelling of the yeast cell cycle and obtained a MPhil degree in Bioinformatics. 

In 2009 he visited the Biotechnology Research Institute of the National Research Council Canada where his research involved computer simulation of molecular signalling cascades governing the development and differentiation of skin appendages. 

In 2010 he was awarded a ESPRC PhD fellowship in the Centre of Skin Sciences,  University of Bradford. This allowed him to develop an expertise in bioinformatics and computational biology of transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the epidermis. His PhD research project on the  bioinformatics analyses of multi-level transcriptional  and epigenetic regulation of  epidermis together with internal and external collaborations resulted in a number of published articles in journals such as Journal of Cell Biology, FASEB, Development and Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Poterlowicz was awarded the Best Paper Prize at the World Congress of Hair Research in Edinburgh in 2013. The same year he joined the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford as a Lecturer in Bioinformatics. Professor Poterlowicz teaches computational biology, medical genetics and statistics and acts as a personal tutor to first year students of the biomedical science undergraduate program. He is a research active academic with interest in the identification of novel genomics biomarkers that influence tissue development and disease.

He is involved in the international scientific collaborations (MRC UK-China Stem Cell Partnership Initiative grant) and his research is regulatory published in peer-review journals. Poterlowicz actively works in the international focus groups with aim to develop and provide bioinformatics and medical informatics training for biomedical students and staff. He is an Associate Member of the EpiGenSys and a Member of the Royal Society of Biology.

Contact

Email

K.Poterlowicz1@bradford.ac.uk

Phone

(01274) 234732