Tissue Biology Research Unit, Children’s Hospital Zurich
ESR 10 fellow
Work package 3
Macrophages
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Skin fibrosis
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Wound healing
Background
Zohaib is from Pakistan, where he attained his Master’s degree in Molecular Biology at National Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), Pakistan. During his studies, his research work was about primed adipose derived stem cells in diabetic wound healing in rat models. Prior to joining SkinTERM, he was working as a research associate for the Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research (CRM), Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan.
PhD project: Role of macrophages on vascularisation and repair/regeneration of bio-engineered human skin
Tissue macrophages play a central role in wound healing of human skin. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that macrophages are necessary for scar-free tissue regeneration of complex tissues such as full-thickness skin, blood vessels, nerves, cartilage, adipose tissue, and muscle in Acomys cahirinus. In this project, Zohaib investigates the role of distinct types of macrophages on the vascularisation and healing response of bio-engineered human skin in order to propagate a pro-healing macrophage response and scar-free skin tissue regeneration.
During his PhD study, he visits the following SkinTERM partners: MedSkin Solutions Dr. Suwelack AG (MDS), Billerbeck, Germany, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal, and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany.
Objectives
- Preparation of skin grafts and polarisation of macrophages.
- Investigation of the influence of skin grafts with macrophages on their in vitro and in vivo behaviour.
- In vitro screening for novel skin pro- and anti-fibrotic factors secreted by different macrophage subsets.