On 16 June, Janet Adegbite, a master’s student conducting her research project in the Tissue Engineering Group, successfully defended her master’s thesis entitled “Establishing a 3D Human Skin Model with Functional Vascularized Hypodermis In Vitro.”

Her project focused on the development of an advanced three-dimensional human skin model incorporating a functional vascularised hypodermal layer. This work addresses an important challenge in skin tissue engineering by moving towards more physiologically relevant in vitro models that better recapitulate the complexity of native human skin.

The thesis was supervised by Dr Shuntaro Yamada as the main supervisor, with Professor Kamal Mustafa serving as co-supervisor. The project was conducted as part of the Cell4Heal project, funded by M-ERA.NET.

The thesis project was demanding and technically challenging, requiring the integration of cell culture, tissue engineering, and model validation approaches. Through her dedication and perseverance, Janet achieved excellent progress and generated results that contribute to the development of improved human skin alternatives for regenerative medicine, disease modelling, and future biomedical applications.

The successful defence marks an important milestone in Janet’s academic journey and reflects her strong commitment to scientific research and innovation in tissue engineering.

The Tissue Engineering Group warmly congratulates Janet on this achievement and wishes her continued success in her future career.