Why different ways of thinking matter for research: Prof Matt Dalby's journey through collaboration, drug discovery & regenerative medicine.

Drawing on his own journey from struggling with conventional learning to building a career around close collaboration, Prof Matt Dalby - co-Director of the Centre for the Cellular Microenvironment at the ARC - will reflect on what it takes to bring together people with different expertise, personalities and ways of thinking - and create environments in which they can thrive. He’ll also share how collaboration across different disciplines is opening up new possibilities for regenerative medicine and developing better non-animal models for research and drug testing.

Agenda:

16:00 -16:30 – Welcome and talk from Matt Dalby

16:30 -17:00 - Audience discussion and Q&A

17:00 -17:30 - Drinks

About Matt:

Matt earned his PhD at Queen Mary University of London, focusing on osteoblast responses to bioactive composites, before moving to Glasgow to investigate cell-nanoscale interactions. In 2003, he established his independent research career through a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship, exploring mesenchymal stem cell responses to nanotopography. Appointed Lecturer in 2008 and Reader in 2010, he was promoted to Professor of Cell Engineering at the University of Glasgow in 2014.

Today, Matt serves as co-Director of the Centre for the Cellular Microenvironment. His interest now lies in understanding mesenchymal stem cell ageing in order to allow manufacture of large numbers of high-quality stem cells for regenerative therapies, transplant therapies and design of bioengineered drug screening models. In terms of models, he is interested in models of the bone marrow to study blood cancers. Blood cancer is an area where animal models give poor prediction and so human cell containing models are increasingly important, especially with the new stances of the regulatory agencies, which are increasingly permissive to non-animal technologies. He has the fortune to lead major national initiatives, directing the EPSRC StemNiche programme grant to bioengineer stem cell niches for pharmaceutical applications and the MAINSTREAM research hub focused on stem cell manufacturing. Additionally, he is co-investigator on the EPSRC HT2050 Mechanomeds grant, developing bioengineered models for predicting aging and cancer in the bone marrow.

Driven by translational impact, he has helped lead veterinary bone regeneration trials and is working towards human clinical trials using nanovibrated stem cell therapy and is involved in manufacturing of novel materials. As Director of the joint EPSRC-SFI lifETIME Centre for Doctoral Training, he oversees the training of over 80 PhD students in non-animal technologies. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016), his recognitions include the Biochemical Society Industrial-Academic Collaboration Award (2020) and the UKSB President’s Prize (2026).

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This event is free, but ticketed.

There will be drinks available after the event, while stocks last.

Please enter the ARC via the main entrance, as indicated on the map below.

If you have any specific access requirements, please contact ARCEngage@glasgow.ac.uk

Description supplied by the event organiser.