Dr Rebecca Rolfe was a postdoctoral researcher in the group from 2015-2016, when she was the primary researcher on a Leverhulme Trust funded project on the importance of fetal movements for the development of the spine. Rebecca is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Dr. Ahmed was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Developmental Biomechanics group from 2017 to 2020, researching the role of mechanical forces on matrix emergence and organisation in the developing skeleton and consequent effect on the material properties of the tissue. Her key contributions to the field of musculoskeletal research include proposing an effective strategy…
Dr Mario Giorgi joined the group in 2011, and was awarded his PhD, entitled “Mechanobiological predictions of fetal joint morphogenesis” in 2015. He followed his PhD with a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Sheffield and is now working for Certara.
Yuming Huang was a PhD student in the Developmental Biomechanics group from 2017 to 2022. His research project focused on the role of mechanical loading on the cell activities underlying joint morphogenesis. Before joining the Developmental Biomechanics Group, he completed a MEng degree in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London in 2017. Yuming is now…
Stephanie Schüler was an MRes student in the Department of Bioengineering from 2018–2019. Her research project focused on the effect of fetal movement on disc development with focus on the involution of the notochord in the mice model. Prior to joining the Developmental Biomechanics Lab, Stephanie graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg with…
James was a PhD student in the London group from 2018 to 2023. He started his PhD after completing his MEng in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London. His research involved producing a computational model of synovial joint development, with a focus on the chick hip joint. He hopes his model will be able to…
Sebastião Barros was an MRes student in the Department of Bioengineering from 2018–2019. His research project revolved around the effects of fetal movement on the development of the intervertebral disc in the mouse model. Prior to joining the Development Biomechanics Lab, Sebastião graduated from Kingston University with a BSc in Biochemistry.
Josepha (Jo) Godivier was a PhD student at Imperial College London from 2018 to 2022. Her work focussed on developing a mechanobiological model for joint growth taking into account foetal movements. Jo completed a master degree in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London and an Engineering degree at Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne in 2018.…
Nidal Khatib was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Developmental Biomechanics Group from 2019 until 2022. His research project involved understanding the involvement of mechanotransduction pathways, including stretch-activated ion channels, in the development of prenatal cartilage and bone using a mechanostimulation bioreactor. Before joining Imperial College, Nidal completed a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Cardiff…
Devi Bridglal was a PhD student in the group from 2015 to 2019, and passed her PhD viva in February 2020. She is now pursuing a career as a medical doctor. She previously completed an MRes in Bioengineering in the Developmental Biomechanics group, during which her project focussed on the effect of movement on joint…
Vikesh Chandaria completed his PhD in 2017. His PhD thesis was entitled “Mechanical Stimulation and Morphogenesis of the Embryonic Chick Knee Joint” and his research focussed on the influence of biophysical stimuli on embryonic joint development. Vikesh is now working as a biomedical engineer in the NHS.
Dr. Aurélie Levillain was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the group from 2016 to 2019, researching the effects of fetal movements on the development of the spine. Aurélie completed her PhD in Biomechanics at Ecole Centrale Lyon (France) in 2016, where her research focused on the effect of osteoarthritis on the mechanical and microstructural properties…
Kaushik Mukherjee joined the Developmental Biomechanics group in 2017 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and in 2018 was awarded a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. His research is investigating the role of prenatal movements in joint shape development using a mechanobiological simulation of growth and morphogenesis. In 2019, Kaushik took up an Assistant Professorship at IIT…
Read more Dr Kaushik Mukherjee, Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Cristian Parisi was a postdoctoral Research Associate in the group from January 2017 to March 2019. His project focused on the role of mechanical forces in cartilage and bone development and joint morphogenesis, combining tissue engineering and developmental biomechanics methods using a mechanostimulation bioreactor system for tissue culture. Cristian is now a Senior Scientist…
Vivien Sotiriou was a PhD student in the group, passing her PhD viva in 2020. Her PhD was on the effects of active and passive movement on prenatal joint morphogenesis. Before joining the group as a PhD student she completed her MSc in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London in 2015. Her diploma thesis was…
Dr. Stefaan Verbruggen was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the group from 2014 to 2017. Dr. Verbruggen’s research project focussed on how the prenatal biomechanical environment affects the development of musculoskeletal diseases in later life. The project was funded by Arthritis Research UK. Following a Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Columbia (USA)…
Developmental Biomechanics 