DrClaire Higgins
Associate Professor in Tissue Regeneration
Department of Bioengineering - Faculty of Engineering
Orcid identifier0000-0002-9742-5149 (opens in a new tab)
- Associate Professor in Tissue RegenerationDepartment of Bioengineering - Faculty of Engineering
- Uren 319, Sir Michael Uren Hub, White City Campus, United Kingdom
BIO
Dr. Claire Higgins joined the Department of Bioengineering in April 2014 after postdoctoral training in the Department of Dermatology, at Columbia University in New York. At Columbia she received a Career Development Award from the Dermatology Foundation to research the 'Molecular basis of human hair follicle induction'. Claire obtained a Ph.D. in Skin Developmental Biology from Durham University in 2007, and holds a B.Sc. in Natural Sciences. She is currently a Reader in Skin Regeneration within the Department.
The main focus of the research group is to understand mechanisms of tissue development, and regeneration, both in normal conditions, and in response to disease or injury. The hair follicle is used as a model, as it is an accessible and elegant system to study organ regeneration. Research into developmental, and regenerative processes means we can try and recreate them in a lab setting, and exploit the inherent properties of interacting cells to engineer new tissues and structures.
Hair follicles contain specialised cells located in a small mesenchymal compartment at the base of the follicle, termed the dermal papilla. Interaction between the dermal papilla and the bulge (the epithelial stem cell compartment of the follicle), drives the hair follicle cycle. Work in the lab encompasses understanding how these cells acquire their specialised ability to instruct hair growth, in addition to elucidating the role of these cells in response to traumatic injury, and their behaviour during skin repair.
Claire's research publications can be found at the tab above, or on Google Scholar.
The main focus of the research group is to understand mechanisms of tissue development, and regeneration, both in normal conditions, and in response to disease or injury. The hair follicle is used as a model, as it is an accessible and elegant system to study organ regeneration. Research into developmental, and regenerative processes means we can try and recreate them in a lab setting, and exploit the inherent properties of interacting cells to engineer new tissues and structures.
Hair follicles contain specialised cells located in a small mesenchymal compartment at the base of the follicle, termed the dermal papilla. Interaction between the dermal papilla and the bulge (the epithelial stem cell compartment of the follicle), drives the hair follicle cycle. Work in the lab encompasses understanding how these cells acquire their specialised ability to instruct hair growth, in addition to elucidating the role of these cells in response to traumatic injury, and their behaviour during skin repair.
Claire's research publications can be found at the tab above, or on Google Scholar.
FACULTY
- Faculty of Engineering
POSITION NAME
- Associate Professor in Tissue Regeneration