Hayat Muhammad

I hold a Ph.D. in Biology from Goettingen University, Germany. I trained as a progenitor stem cell biologist/adult stem cell biologist under the supervision of Prof. Nicolai Miosge, my Ph.D. supervisor and Prof. Vicki Rosen, our collaborator at Harvard University.  

My Ph.D. research was focused on the investigation of the meniscus progenitor stem cells in the inner part of the meniscus to understand their pathophysiological mechanisms in meniscus tissue regeneration. Osteoarthritis is a multifactorial disease and one of the major factors is meniscal failure which doesn’t heal. In particular, the inner part of meniscus has very rare or no self-intrinsic repair capability. The Meniscus acts as a safeguard which prevent direct bone-on-bone exposure. 

Following my Ph.D, I was awarded a Postdoctoral scholarship by Washington University in St. Louis, USA, in the department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where, I examined an OA transgenic mouse model to explore the role of a chondroprotective gene.  After my Postdoc at Washington University, I got a scholarship at Imagine Institute, INSERM, Paris, France. In Paris my research project was on skeletal progenitor stem cells and their role in regeneration of the bone tissue.

In September 2016 I took up a postdoctoral research position awarded by the University of Oxford, in the research group of Prof. Tonia Vincent, Kennedy institute of Rheumatology.

My research project aims to understand the cell biological mechanisms and pathways in cartilage regeneration including one trigger by cartilage injury to promote a repair response. In particular I am exploring the role of pericellular matrix bound growth factors in this process.