Great day in the #piroglab, our bioprinter arrived today! 🙂Part of the @nc3rs.bsky.social Business Interaction Voucher Award, the printer will help us create a novel zonally stratified model of cartilage, in partnership with Copner Biotech. Watch this space!

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the @nc3rs.bsky.social/BBSRC Business Interaction Voucher Award. Our exciting collaboration with Copner Biotech and @northumbriauni.bsky.social will use advanced bioprinting to generate cartilage structures for investigating ageing and disease.

This #RareDiseaseDay we stand with people living with rare conditions in the UK and beyond, with their families, the people still searching for answers, and everyone who has lost someone along the way. 💜 rd-research.org.uk/node/upnat/

10th edition of our #GeneticsMatters @rarediseaseday.bsky.social is officially open! 150 participants and lots of enthusiastic scientists, it's going to be a great day! 🙂 @newcastleuni.bsky.social @nihrnewcastlebrc.bsky.social @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social

We had a great @change-ecm.bsky.social meeting in Padova! It was the 3rd and final meeting of our consortium, and it was great to see the progress that our DCs have made, shaping their projects and building their networks as they become the next generation of matrix biologists. #MSCA #DN #ECM

Registration for our FREE #GeneticsMatters patient and public information day is now open. Join us for presentations, experiments, meet our scientists, and find out more about research at @nihrnewcastlebrc.bsky.social and @newcastleuni.bsky.social. Register here: tinyurl.com/4j4fxhnh #raredisease

Our next abstract is by Roufaida Bouchenafa, investigating kinesin involvement in skeletal disease and ageing at @newcastleuni.bsky.social, supervised by @kasiapirog.bsky.social Please message Roufaida if you'd like to know more! www.linkedin.com/in/roufaida-... #MSCA #kinesin #chondrodysplasia

Merry Christmas from the Pirog lab and the Skeletal Research Group @newcastleuni.bsky.social Wishing everyone a lovely festive break, and all the best in 2026!

Our next abstract comes from Gianluca Ricci, investigating the role of primary cilia in connective tissue disease and ageing with Dr Jean Philippe Annerau at Medetia Pharmaceuticals. Please drop Gianluca a line if you'd like to know more! www.linkedin.com/in/gianluca-... #MSCA #cilium #senescence

Our next graphical abstract is by João Pinheiro who is engineering an ex vivo model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) at LifeTec Group, supervised by Dr Linda Kock. If you would like to know more about this project, please drop João a line: www.linkedin.com/in/joaomateu... #MSCA_DN #OA #PTOA

I was a very proud supervisor today at the @newcastleuni.bsky.social winter congregations. Congratulations to Marc Farcasanu and Rachel Pearson on graduating with a very well deserved PhD. Well done guys, and all the best in your future careers!

Our next abstract is by Shivashakthi Shivaraman who is researching collagen-VI related myopathies using zebrafish @ensdelyon.bsky.social with Prof Florence Ruggiero. Please contact Shivashakthi if you'd like to know more! linkedin.com/in/shivashakthi-shivaraman-5b971a186 #MSCA_DN #myopathy #colVI

This week's abstract is by Matteo Signor who is studying the link between the ageing autonomic nervous system and IVD degeneration, supervised by @zsuzsajenei-lanzl.bsky.social at @goetheuni.bsky.social. Send Matteo a message to find out more! www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-si... #IVD #ageing #MSCA_DN

Our next @change-ecm.bsky.social abstract is by Giulio Gatto, a PhD candidate from @goetheuni.bsky.social. Giulio is investigating OA-associated changes in cartilage ECM under the supervision of @fzaucke.bsky.social. Please message Giulio if you'd like to know more. www.linkedin.com/in/giulio-ga...

The third @change-ecm.bsky.social abstract comes from Michal Tamáš who is researching skeletal muscle regeneration under the supervision of Prof Bonaldo at the Università degli Studi di Padova. To find out more, drop Michal a line: www.linkedin.com/in/michaltamas #MSCA_DN #muscleregeneration #colVI

Our second abstract is by Asifa Khan, who is studying proteoglycan undersulfation in ECM homeostasis and musculoskeletal ageing at the Università di Pavia. Please contact Asifa if you would like to know more. #MSCA_DN #ECM #proteoglycans #ageing #raredisease

Our DCs have created graphical abstracts of their projects. We will share them here, on LinkedIn and on our website. Our first abstract is by Wendy Pérez Franco, investigating age related extra-skeletal complications in OI. Drop Wendy a message if you'd like to know more! #MSCA #OI #raredisease

Another great BSMB meeting, organised by Salvatore Santamaria at the University of Surrey. Thank you Salvo! Great program, inspiring science, and really good to see everyone! 😊

Exploring Alnwick Castle with the @change-ecm.bsky.social visiting researcher João Pinheiro. We really enjoyed hosting João in our lab this summer! #piroglab

Huge congratulations to Anna Porter, Orthopaedic Trainee and PhD student in #piroglab, who won the Kreibich prize presenting her PhD project on tissue engineering approaches to investigate molecular mechanisms in hemiepiphysiodesis @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social #proudsupervisor

We have a Dr!!! 🎉 Well done Marc on defending your @nc3rs.bsky.social funded PhD! 👏👏👏 And thank you to James Henstock from @northumbriauni.bsky.social and Priscila Melo from @nclengineering.bsky.social for acting as Marc's examiners. #piroglab @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social

Great to see this publication optimising a hydrogel-based model of cartilage. This approach has the potential to become a scalable platform to investigate biomechanical responses and replace mice in studies of musculoskeletal disease progression and ageing. Learn more: nc3rs.org.uk/our-portfoli...

It's viva time! Marc is presenting 4 years of his work on tissue engineering of cartilage. Well done Marc, and good luck! @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social #proudsupervisor

Our new paper is out! Well done Marc, Thais, Fran et al @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social! And thank you to @nc3rs.bsky.social and the #JGWPattersonFoundation for funding and support. analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Roufaida, #piroglab PhD student, explaining skeletal dysplasia and motor proteins at #GeneticsMatters @change-ecm.bsky.social @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social #proudsupervisor

#GeneticsMatters is 10 years old today! Thank you all for supporting Rare Disease Day. Great atmosphere, presentations and discussions this morning. Looking forward to the round tables! @rarediseases.bsky.social @rarediseasepatient.bsky.social @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social @newcastleuni.bsky.social

It's the International Rare Disease Day today! I just collected the microscopes for our #GeneticsMatters event at the Discovery Museum this weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon! @newcastleuni.bsky.social @cgm-newcastle.bsky.social @change-ecm.bsky.social @rarediseases.bsky.social

Are you interested in tissue engineering, immune responses and mechanoresponses? We are part of an exciting "organ-on-a-chip" PhD project, led by Ana Ferreira-Duarte at @newcastleuni.bsky.social To find out more and to apply, visit: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

3 weeks to go, places are filling up! Join #GeneticsMatters for talks and hands-on science, and support #raredisease research. tinyurl.com/54vvsb3r It's free, age 12+ @rdndlab.bsky.social @rarediseasepatient.bsky.social @rarediseases.bsky.social @newcastleuni.bsky.social @medicsforrare.bsky.social

Registration is now open for our FREE annual #RareDiseaseDay event #GeneticsMatters. Join us at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle on the 2nd of March for interesting talks and hands on activities, and show your support for #RareDiseases. To register, click: tinyurl.com/54vvsb3r

End of an era 😢 We said goodbye to Fran today after five years of working together in #piroglab at @newcastleuni.bsky.social. Thank you for all your hard work and friendship over the years Fran. Best of luck in your new job!

Keep an eye out for this book! Great chapters on skeletal disorders and ECM, and if you'd like to know more about the link between motor proteins, ECM and skeletal health, we contributed a chapter too. #piroglab

We are pleased to announce the 9th edition of #GeneticsMatters, our flagship public engagement event celebrating #rarediseases and rare disease research at Newcastle. Registration will open in January 2025. Come see us at the Discovery Museum on the 2nd of March!

Only one week left to apply for a PhD position with us! Cutting edge tissue engineering, biomechanics, transcriptomics and biochemistry techniques in a fun and friendly lab in beautiful Newcastle 😊 To apply click 👇

December is here & we're granting wishes!!! We're super pumped to be hosting @nabalabuic.bsky.social for a talk on The Matrisome project plus - a special surprise just for The Meshwork community - a demo of MatriTools! Chair: @collagenyoshi.bsky.social Register now: forms.gle/7x3q7AfPNp38...

A forum for all things related to the cellular microenvironment and its role in health and disease. Spread the voice and drop a message if you want to join! go.bsky.app/jhvVHF

For our 🦋: Tomorrow 3pm CET, grab your hot cocoa (ok coffee, let's be real) & let's get cozier with a talk by the amazing S. Ricard-Blum. All about computational biology, ECM protein interactions & the new vers of MatrixDB! Chair: @merrylabnotts.bsky.social Zoom link: t.co/mFDZASKYFH

I am pleased to announce a fully funded DiMeN DTP PhD in my lab in collaboration with Dr Alison Twelvetrees in Sheffield and Dr Liz Laird in Liverpool investigating novel motor protein roles in musculoskeletal development and health tinyurl.com/yhrvhd65 Deadline 13/12. Drop us a line if interested!

The Rare Disease list is updated - please suggest more names! #raredisease ttps://go.bsky.app/LExn7SZ