Dr Timothy Hopkins
Versus Arthritis Research Fellow
School of Engineering and Materials Science
Queen Mary University of London
| Funder: | Versus Arthritis |
| Project: | Human synovium-cartilage organ-chip for personalised surgical screening |
Research
Organ-on-a-Chip, In-vitro Modelling, Osteoarthritis, Cartilage, Synovium
Interests
My research focuses on understanding the factors that contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA) in the human knee, and on improving treatments that seek to halt disease progression. Currently, I am developing a human synovial joint-on-a-chip model to investigate the interaction between cartilage and synovium which we believe plays a role in the progression of OA and influences individual patient responses to treatment.
Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Bioengineering
2025
Increased synovitis and pro-inflammatory macrophage abundance are observed in the synovia of patients at risk of developing post-traumatic OA compared to those with established OAHopkins T Garcia J Hulme CH Tins B Perry J Jermin P Gallacher P Barnett A et al.
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open,
Elsevier vol. 7 (3)
18-07-2025 Engineering growth factor gradients to drive spatiotemporal tissue patterning in organ-on-a-chip systemsHopkins T Midha S Grossemy S Screen HRC Wann AKT Knight MM
Journal of Tissue Engineering,
Sage Publications vol. 16
18-04-2025 2024
Intra-Articular Injection of Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Reduces Radiographic Osteoarthritis in an Ovine Model.Perry J Mennan C Cool P McCarthy HS Newell K Hopkins T Hulme C Wright KT et al.
Cartilage,
Sage Publications 03-11-2024 2023
Human vascularised synovium-on-a-chip: a mechanically stimulated, microfluidic model to investigate synovial inflammation and monocyte recruitmentThompson CL Hopkins T Bevan C Screen HRC Wright KT Knight MM
Biomedical Materials,
Iop Publishing vol. 18 (6)
10-10-2023 Relationship Between Activity Level and Knee Function Is Influenced by Negative Affect in Patients Undergoing Cell Therapy for Articular Cartilage Defects in the KneeHopkins T Roberts S Richardson JB Gallacher P Bailey A Kuiper JH
Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine,
Sage Publications vol. 11 (2)
01-02-2023 2022
Chondrocyte Isolation and ExpansionHarrison P Hopkins T Hulme C McCarthy H Wright K
In
Cartilage Tissue Engineering,
Springer Nature 11-11-2022 2021
Identifying Consensus and Open Questions around Assessing or Predicting the Quality and Success of Cartilage Repair: A Delphi StudyHopkins T Richardson J Kuiper JH
Surgeries,
Mdpi vol. 2 (3), 286-302.
06-08-2021 An In Vitro System to Study the Effect of Subchondral Bone Health on Articular Cartilage Repair in HumansHopkins T Wright KT Kuiper NJ Roberts S Jermin P Gallacher P Kuiper JH
Cells,
Mdpi vol. 10 (8)
27-07-2021 Short-Term Evaluation of Cellular Fate in an Ovine Bone Formation ModelMarkides H Foster NC McLaren JS Hopkins T Black C Oreffo ROC Scammell BE Echevarria I et al.
Cells,
Mdpi vol. 10 (7)
14-07-2021 2020
The use of technology in the subcategorisation of osteoarthritis: a Delphi study approachMennan C Hopkins T Channon A Elliott M Johnstone B Kadir T Loughlin J Peffers M et al.
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open,
Elsevier vol. 2 (3)
09-06-2020 2019
Combined Autologous Chondrocyte and Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Implantation in the Knee: An 8-year Follow Up of Two First-In-Man CasesWang J Wright KT Perry J Tins B Hopkins T Hulme C McCarthy HS Brown A et al.
Cell Transplantation,
Sage Publications vol. 28 (7), 924-931.
08-05-2019 
Human coronary artery tri-culture organ-chip recapitulates anti-inflammatory effect of pulsatile wall strainHou Y Ziakas G Hopkins T Wang W Screen HRC Knight MM
In
Biorxiv
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Bioengineering
Micro-manufacturing of tissue patterned organ-chips for accelerated deployment of new medicinesMartin Knight,
Hazel Screen,
Julien Gautrot,
Timothy Hopkins, John Connelly, Liisa Blowes and Xavier Griffin
£1,787,725
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 
01-10-2024 - 30-09-2027 Human synovium-cartilage organ-chip for personalised surgical screeningMartin Knight and
Timothy Hopkins£311,203
Versus Arthritis01-04-2022 - 30-06-2026
Organ-chip Facility: A world-class in vitro models facility for the UK community, reducing the barriers to adoption to drive animal replacementHazel Screen,
Stefaan Verbruggen,
Martin Knight,
Julia Shelton,
Timothy Hopkins and John Connelly
£573,537
NC3Rs National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research 07-10-2024 - 14-03-2025
Research Group
PhD Students
- Duncan Carroll
Synovium Organ-on-a-Chip to Investigate The Effect of Blood Glucose on Synovitis - Georgios Ziakas
Development of Organ-Chip Models of The Growth Plate With Mechanical Stimulation
News
November 2025
19 November 2025
A group of high-profile guests visited Queen Mary's Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models on Tuesday 11th November, to explore the university's cutting-edge organ-on-a-chip facilities.
The delegation included musician and animal advocate Will Young, a Director and Toxicologist from Lush cosmetics, and representatives from the charity Animal Aid. The group ... [more]
12 November 2025
Bioengineers at Queen Mary University of London, have provided expert comment to the BBC about the new alternatives strategy launched today (11 November) by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Watch Queen Mary experts speak to the BBC about the Government's new alternatives strategy on 11 November from 6.10am.
This new ... [more]
