Professor of Materials and Biomedical Engineering
Academic Division: Mechanics, Materials and Design
Research group: Biomechanics
Telephone: +44 1223 7 66417
Email: am253@eng.cam.ac.uk
Research interests
A major focus of my group’s research is directed towards: (a) Vascular networks for tissue engineering. A critical obstacle for creating tissue/organs with clinically relevant dimensions is the formation of a three-dimensional, hierarchical, and perfusable vasculature. We use ECM-like hydrogel materials with various channel-forming techniques to create vascularized tissue, working towards solutions to this interdisciplinary problem. We have developed a space-filling algorithm, based on Constrained Constructive Optimization, for generation of 3D printable models of biomimetic vascular networks. (b) Scaffods for tissue engineering and the study of the various inter-relationships between scaffold architecture, mechanical properties and cell responses. (c) Brain cancer cell migration. The work is concerned with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). It combines engineering and cell biology to develop deeper insight into tumor’s invasive capacity along blood vessels.
Strategic themes
Bioengineering
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Hierarchical, Perfusable 3D Vascular Networks for Building Living Tissues: Experiment (3D Printing and Cellular Approaches) and Computational Modelling.
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Understanding the Mechanisms that drive Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Neovascularisation and Invasion along Blood Vessels.
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Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and the study of the various inter-relationships between processing conditions, porous architecture, mechanical properties and cell responses.
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Development of a Defined and Xeno-free Hydrogel for 3D Stem Cell Culture and Differentiation.
Biography
Athina Markaki is a University Professor at the Engineering Department, University of Cambridge. She leads the Materials Engineering and Material-Tissue Interaction Group. Athina received her diploma in Materials Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, and her PhD from Cambridge University. Following post-doctoral positions at Cambridge and MIT, she was appointed to a Lectureship at the Engineering Department. She is the recipient of the 2017 Rosetrees Trust Interdisciplinary Award, Acta Materialia 2016 (outstanding reviewer), an European Research Council Starting Grant (2010), an Advanced EPSRC Fellowship (2005), the 2004 De Montford Award at "SET for Britain”, the Young Scientist Prize 2003 at the 5th Euromech Solid Mechanics Conference (ESMC-5), and awards from the State Scholarships Foundation, the Evgenidio Foundation and the Technical Chamber of Greece.