Academic Staff

Wael Kafienah

BSc: Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland (1994)
PhD: Collagen Biochemistry, University of Sheffield (1998)

Lecturer in Stem Cell Biology

Contact Details
Dept. of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol,
School of Medical Sciences, Bristol, BS8 1TD
Tel: +44 (0)117 33 12096 / 12023
Fax: +44 (0)117 33 12091
Email: W.Z.Kafienah@bristol.ac.uk
Stem Cell Biology Group

Current Research

Role of nuclear receptors in adult and embryonic stem cell function
Mesodermal differentiation of human embryonic stem cells
Development of biomaterial based, stem cell therapeutic delivery systems

Overview

Dr Wael Kafienah graduated with a First Class honours from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland and completed his PhD training at the University of Sheffield. He has worked in the UK and the US as a postdoctoral scientist in the field of stem cells and cartilage repair for several years developing methods for the controlled differentiation of stem cells and their application in skeletal tissue engineering. That work lead to significant public (see BBC news story "New hope for arthritis sufferers") and scientific (A&R Journal) interest. His contribution to the field of stem cells has recently been recognised through the award of the prestigious Garrod Prize 2008. Dr Kafienah holds 3 patents that resulted recently in a University of Bristol spin-out company (Azellon Cell Therapeutics). He is currently a committee member of the British Society for Matrix Biology.

Present co-workers

Professor Anthony Hollander, ARC Professor of Rheumatology & Tissue Engineering
Dr Sally C. Dickinson, Research Associate
Mr Trevor J. Sims, Research Associate
Dr Sanjay Mistry, Research Associate
Mr Henry Jia, Trainee Technician
Miss Kimberley Ridgway, PhD Student
Miss Catherine Sutton, PhD Student
Ms. Jan Cunningham, Business Manager
Mrs Jane Lohmann, Secretary

Recent Publications

Pabbruwe, M.B., Kafienah, W., Tarlton, J.F., Mistry, S., Fox, J., Hollander, A.P. Repair of meniscal cartilage white zone tears using a stem cell/collagen scaffold implant. Biomaterials (In Press).

Pabbruwe, M.B., Esfandiari, E., Kafienah, W.*, Tarlton, J. and Hollander, A.P. (2009) Induction of cartilage integration by a chondrocyte-collagen scaffold. Biomaterials 30, 4277-4286.

Kafienah, W. (2008) Towards Cartilage Repair. In: Horizons in Medicine, vol 20. Editor, Prof. P. Matheison. Royal College of Physicians of London Publications.

Kafienah, W., Cheung F.L., Sims T., Martin I., Miot S., Von Ruhland C., Roughley P.J., Hollander A.P. (2008) Lumican inhibits collagen deposition in tissue engineered cartilage. Matrix Biology 27, 526-534.

Kafienah, W. Are stem cells the answer to treating osteoarthritis (OA)? An online editorial for the 2007 National Knowledge Week on Osteoarthritis, NHS Library for Health, UK.

Kafienah, W., Mistry, S., Perry, M.J., Politopoulou, G. and Hollander, A.P. (2007) Pharmacological regulation of adult stem cells: chondrogenesis can be induced using a synthetic inhibitor of the retinoic acid receptor. Stem Cells 25, 2460-2468.

Kafienah, W., Mistry, S., Dickinson, S.C., Sims, T.J., Learmonth, I. and Hollander A.P. (2007) Three-dimensional cartilage tissue engineering using adult stem cells from osteoarthritis patients. Arthritis Rheum. 56, 177-187.

Kafienah, W., Mistry, S., Williams, C. and Hollander, A.P. (2006) Nucleostemin is a marker of proliferating stromal stem cells in adult human bone marrow. Stem Cells 24, 1113-1120.

Kafienah, W. and Sims, T.J. (2004) Biochemical methods for the analysis of tissue-engineered cartilage. Methods Mol. Biol. 238, 217-230.

Kafienah, W.Z., Al-Fayez, F., Hollander, A.P., Barker, M.D. (2003) Inhibition of cartilage degradation: A combined tissue engineering and gene therapy approach. Arthritis Rheum. 48, 709-718.

Kafienah, W., Jacob, M., Démarteau, O., Frazer, A., Barker, M.D., Martin, I. and Hollander, A.P. (2002) Three dimensional tissue engineering of hyaline cartilage: Comparison of adult nasal and articular chondrocytes. Tissue Eng. 8, 817-826.

Kafienah, W., Brömme, D., Buttle, D.J., Croucher, L.J. and Hollander, A.P. (1998) Human cathepsin K cleaves native type I and II collagens at the N-terminal end of the triple helix. Biochem. J. 331, 727-732.

Kafienah, W., Buttle, D.J., Burnett, D. and Hollander, A.P. (1998) Cleavage of native type I collagen by human neutrophil elastase. Biochem. J. 330, 897-902.