糖心原创

Contact

• workRoom A61 Vet School/ Room C209g Biodiscovery Institute
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• Jennifer.Ashworth@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Dr Jennifer Ashworth is an Assistant Professor and Group Leader in Biomaterials & Complex Tissue Models at the 糖心原创. She works jointly between the Vet School and the School of Medicine. She completed her PhD in Materials Science at the University of Cambridge in 2015, creating collagen materials to characterise the link between extracellular matrix and cell invasion, in collaboration with Geistlich Pharma AG, Switzerland. She initially moved to Nottingham as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2016, where she has since applied her materials science background to develop advanced materials for 3D cell/organoid culture. Her work developing peptide gel technology for 3D cell culture, providing an animal-free alternative to basement membrane extract, has been recognised by a highly commended award from the International 3Rs Prize 2020. This technology is now available commercially through the company PeptiMatrix, of which she is co-founder.

Expertise Summary

Jenny's main research interest is developing tissue-mimetic biomaterials to study the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Her Anne McLaren fellowship (2022-2025) focussed on replicating 3D collagen fibre patterns specific to different tissues in humans and animals. Her current work applies multiscale imaging and characterisation techniques to recreate tissue-specific features of the ECM, encompassing biophysical, biochemical and structural properties. This work has important applications for studying tissue development, normal homeostasis, and modelling cancer/fibrosis. Her specific areas of interest include multiphoton and second harmonic generation imaging, Micro-CT, micro- and bulk-rheology, and spatial transcriptomics.

Research Summary

My research focus is the design of bespoke biomaterial models of soft tissues, to study how cells interact with their surroundings in development, normal homeostasis, and disease. To create tissue-… read more

Recent Publications

• SONG X, MITCHELL SM, SMART AN, HARDIMAN W, BAX DV, STALEY CE, PROBERT C, COLLIER P, MEAKIN M, RITCHIE AA, MENDONCA T, WRIGHT AJ, JAMES V, GRABOWSKA AM, MERRY CLR, BEST SM, CAMERON RE and ASHWORTH JC, 2025. Advanced Healthcare Materials.
• MENDONCA, TANIA, LIS-SLIMAK, KATARZYNA, MATHESON, ANDREW B., SMITH, MATTHEW G., ANANE-ADJEI, AKOSUA B., ASHWORTH, JENNIFER C., CAVANAGH, ROBERT, PATERSON, LYNN, DALGARNO, PAUL A., ALEXANDER, CAMERON, TASSIERI, MANLIO, MERRY, CATHERINE L. R. and WRIGHT, AMANDA J., 2023. OptoRheo: Simultaneous in situ micro-mechanical sensing and imaging of live 3D biological systems Communications Biology. 6(1),
• ASHWORTH JC, THOMPSON JL, JAMES JR, SLATER CE, PIJUAN-GALITO S, LIS-SLIMAK K, HOLLEY RJ, MEADE KA, THOMPSON A, ARKILL KP, TASSIERI M, WRIGHT AJ, FARNIE G and MERRY, C. L. R., 2020. Matrix Biology. 85-86, 15-33
• PAL A, ASHWORTH JC, COLLIER P, PROBERT C, JONES S, LEZA EP, MEAKIN ML, A RITCHIE A, ONION D, CLARKE PA, ALLEGRUCCI C and GRABOWSKA AM, 2020. Cancers. 12(8),

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Current Research

My research focus is the design of bespoke biomaterial models of soft tissues, to study how cells interact with their surroundings in development, normal homeostasis, and disease. To create tissue- and species-specific models, we must be able to understand and mimic the surroundings that our cells experience in the body. My group uses 2D & 3D imaging of human and animal tissues to understand what makes them different, how this changes between types of tissue and species, and how to recreate this in a 3D biomaterial to improve our understanding of health and disease.

• SONG X, MITCHELL SM, SMART AN, HARDIMAN W, BAX DV, STALEY CE, PROBERT C, COLLIER P, MEAKIN M, RITCHIE AA, MENDONCA T, WRIGHT AJ, JAMES V, GRABOWSKA AM, MERRY CLR, BEST SM, CAMERON RE and ASHWORTH JC, 2025. Advanced Healthcare Materials.
• MENDONCA, TANIA, LIS-SLIMAK, KATARZYNA, MATHESON, ANDREW B., SMITH, MATTHEW G., ANANE-ADJEI, AKOSUA B., ASHWORTH, JENNIFER C., CAVANAGH, ROBERT, PATERSON, LYNN, DALGARNO, PAUL A., ALEXANDER, CAMERON, TASSIERI, MANLIO, MERRY, CATHERINE L. R. and WRIGHT, AMANDA J., 2023. OptoRheo: Simultaneous in situ micro-mechanical sensing and imaging of live 3D biological systems Communications Biology. 6(1),
• ASHWORTH JC, THOMPSON JL, JAMES JR, SLATER CE, PIJUAN-GALITO S, LIS-SLIMAK K, HOLLEY RJ, MEADE KA, THOMPSON A, ARKILL KP, TASSIERI M, WRIGHT AJ, FARNIE G and MERRY, C. L. R., 2020. Matrix Biology. 85-86, 15-33
• PAL A, ASHWORTH JC, COLLIER P, PROBERT C, JONES S, LEZA EP, MEAKIN ML, A RITCHIE A, ONION D, CLARKE PA, ALLEGRUCCI C and GRABOWSKA AM, 2020. Cancers. 12(8),
• ASHWORTH JC, MORGAN RL, LIS-SLIMAK K, MEADE KA, JONES S, SPENCE K, SLATER CE, THOMPSON JL, GRABOWSKA AM, CLARKE RB, FARNIE, G and MERRY CLR, 2020. JOVE - Journal of Visualized Experiments.
• ASHWORTH JC, MEHR M, BUXTON PG, BEST SM and CAMERON RE, 2018. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine. 29(11), 166
• ASHWORTH JC, MARCO M, BUXTON PG, BEST SM and CAMERON RE, 2018. Advanced Biosystems. 2(8), 1700257
• OFFEDDU GS, ASHWORTH JC, CAMERON RE and OYEN ML, 2016. Acta Biomaterialia. 41, 193-203
• OFFEDDU GS, ASHWORTH JC, CAMERON RE and OYEN ML, 2015. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. 42, 19-25
• ASHWORTH JC, MEHR M, BUXTON PG, BEST SM and CAMERON RE, 2015. Advanced Healthcare Materials. 4(9), 1317-1321
• ASHWORTH JC, BEST SM and CAMERON RE, 2014. Materials Technology: Advanced Performance Materials. 29, 281-295