Insigneo Newsletter - March 2026

Welcome to our monthly Insigneo newsletter!  

Our monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date with events, funding, success stories and information. We hope you will find it useful! 

Shaped in Sheffield, 
improving lives everywhere

A new technique to safely scan children’s lungs, an ambitious project to restore hearing loss and improving the employment rights for unpaid carers are just three projects shaped in Sheffield that are improving lives everywhere.

The city of Sheffield’s world-leading invention and ingenuity are being celebrated in a new campaign by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which aims to showcase the impact of public investment in research and innovation. 
 
The projects, many of which have been pioneered by the University of Sheffield, have all received investment from UKRI, the UK’s largest public body investing in research and innovation, with a budget of around £9bn a year to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth in the UK.

The Big Walk is back:
Walk to save young lungs

This year, the Big Walk will be fundraising to accelerate the imaging technology research that is making scans safer and more accurate for children with lung conditions. Join colleagues on Friday 3 July for a 20 or 30 mile walk through the Peak District to raise vital funds for life-changing childhood lung disease research.

Together we can save young lungs — one step at a time

Pioneering partnership launched to ensure safety and accelerate life-changing stem cell therapies

The iSTAT (Investigating Safety and Toxicity of Advanced Therapies) project aims to accelerate the delivery of life-changing cell therapies by addressing critical safety hurdles.

Funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Prosperity partnerships, the initiative leverages a unique collaboration between leading academic experts and industry leaders. 

Advanced therapies, particularly those derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), hold significant promise for treating a wide range of currently incurable diseases, from Parkinson's disease and macular degeneration to spinal cord injuries. These therapies take advantage of the unique ability of hPSCs to generate diverse, clinically relevant cell types. Clinical trials involving hPSC-derived cells are already underway globally, with many more on the horizon.

However, a potential problem to their widespread adoption has been the tendency for genetic changes in hPSCs during their production. Currently, identifying which of these genetic changes pose a genuine risk remains a challenge, and existing safety tests are often slow, costly, and may not accurately predict human responses.

This new project, led by Insigneo Research Theme Director Professor Ivana Barbaric from the University of Sheffield and David Kuninger from ThermoFisher Scientific, is set to change this. Its aim is to mitigate these risks by developing reliable pre-clinical models for evaluating the safety of these therapies and finding new ways to minimise the occurrence of genetically altered cells during their development.

AI set to make medical scan reports twice as easy to understand for patients

A major new study, led by Insigneo member Dr Samer Alabed, suggests Artificial intelligence could soon help patients make sense of complex medical scan results, making them far easier to understand without losing clinical accuracy.

The research found that when radiology reports for X-Rays, CT and MRI scans were rewritten using advanced AI systems such as ChatGPT, patients found them almost twice as easy to understand compared with the original versions.

Analysis showed that the reading level dropped from "university level” to one more closely aligned with the comprehension of a school pupil aged 11-13.

The findings suggest that AI-assisted explanations could become a standard companion to medical reports, helping to improve transparency and trust across healthcare systems, including the NHS.

New research aims to understand the 'molecular switches' behind cancer

A new £1 million research project investigating a biological survival trick that allows abnormal cells to thrive could pave the way for new treatments for cancer and safer stem cell therapies for conditions like Parkinson's.

The study, funded by BBSRC and led by Professor Ivana Barbaric (University of Sheffield) in collaboration with  Professor Sarah McClelland (Barts Cancer), aims to understand why some cells can survive with an incorrect number of chromosomes, a condition known as aneuploidy. Aneuploidy often causes cells to die or malfunction, leading to pregnancy loss or developmental disorders. However, cancer cells and certain stem cells find a way to tolerate this imbalance, using it to grow faster and resist treatment.

AI and Biomechanics for Health in Ghana Workshop 

Five members of the Insigneo Institute, Ning Ma, Claire Brockett, Jen Rowson, Chaona Chen, and Xi Wang, recently visited Accra, Ghana, to deliver a workshop on AI and Engineering for Health at the University of Ghana, 23 - 27 February 2026. 

The programme for the event featured a research showcase highlighting health-related work from both Ghana and Sheffield, an interactive sandpit workshop exploring key health challenges and collaboration opportunities in Ghana, and two short training courses on AI for Health and Biomechanics for Health. 

Insigneo research theme director for Healthcare data/AI, Dr Ning Ma from the School of Computer Science, said, “The visit was a great success, with excellent engagement from colleagues and students at the University of Ghana. The workshop created a valuable platform for sharing expertise and identifying common research priorities.

"We are excited about the opportunities this has opened up to build a long-term partnership between the University of Sheffield and the University of Ghana, particularly in the areas of AI and engineering for health that address global health challenges.”

Research success for The Hormone Effect app

The Hormone Effect app project, led by Insigneo member Dr Becky Mawson, has been selected to be part of the Ripple Digital Health Challenge cohort to continue development of a prototype to aid contraception journeys and collect side effect data. The project has also been awarded HEIF funding to work with global company Natural Cycles to explore how the public and healthcare professionals feel about the only FDA-approved digital contraceptive app.

Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI) 2026

Insigneo member David Kiely presented at the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI) 2026 on AI-enhanced risk models for pulmonary hypertension survival and how AI can strengthen risk stratification, improve diagnostic accuracy, and enhance patient outcomes. Watch here: https://pvrinstitute.org/learning-hub/material/ai-enhanced-risk-models-ph-survival

UKRI Policy Internship for Suzie Coldman

Congratulations to Insigneo member Suzie Coldman, PhD student in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, who has secured a 3-month UKRI Policy Internship to work for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee within the UK Parliament to research a particular area and present her results at a policy inquiry. Suzie will go on her placement from April to July this year.

Mellanby Centre Research Day best poster prize for George Allison

Congratulations to Insigneo member George Allison, PhD student in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, on being awarded the best poster prize at the 15^th Annual Mellanby Centre Research Day.

Insigneo Early Career Researcher community

Our Early Career Researcher ECR group is open to all Insigneo Members who are PhD students, postdocs, fellows, lecturers and those who self-define as an ECR.

Find out more and join

If you are not already a member of the Insigneo Institute and would like to join you can read more about the benefits and apply here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/membership. 

ECR fellowship/grant writing Workshop

We run regular ECR fellowship/grant writing workshops (every ~2 months).

The aim is to allow ECRs to discuss with their peers any fellowship/ grant applications they might be preparing and to receive feedback in an informal setting. During each session we have one to two members presenting their work, followed by a round table discussion. This group is reserved for Insigneo ECR members who are seriously considering or are in the process of writing their first grant or applying for a fellowship. Please contact Damien Lacroix (d.lacroix@sheffield.ac.uk) or Neil Stewart (neil.stewart@sheffield.ac.uk) to express your interest in participating.

Opportunity for an ECR to join our committee as the lead for social events!

In this role, you will play a key part in fostering community connections by organizing engaging social and networking events.

If you’re passionate about building a vibrant community and have creative ideas for bringing people together, we’d love to have you on board.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by emailing Sarah Black (sarah.black@sheffield.ac.uk).

Insigneo ECR spring networking events

Insigneo ECR committee is pleased to invite you to a networking event coming up this spring.

Zine workshop

During this networking workshop, we will learn how to create a template for a zine, use arts and crafts supplies to prepare an educational pamphlet of our own research and get the creative energy flowing while hanging out with fellow ECRs .

The event will take place on Wednesday May 20 at 12-2pm in Pam Liversidge Building, Meeting Room F13.

Zines are small, handmade and non-commercial booklets created for various purposes such as self-expression, low budget art popularisation, or information and education. ‘Zine’ (pronounced ‘zeen’) comes from the word ‘fanzine’ – fan magazine. In the educational and scientific context, zines could be a suitable medium for scientific outreach events, an addition to your poster presentation or just a fun activity for a networking event. Such an exercise can also be a great way of research communication, reflecting on how to share your complex scientific work in an accessible way. 

We would like to present the Zines created by our ECRs during the Insigneo Showcase and similar events in the future. Please see the exemplary Zines made during our first workshop: View all the zines as a flipbook 

If you have any queries, please contact m.matella@sheffield.ac.uk or sarah.black@sheffield.ac.uk 

The Insigneo ECR Committee
(Malwina Matella, Neil Stewart, Juntong Lai, Hazem Toutounji, Sarah Black, Sarah Hollely, chaired by: Damien Lacroix)

We would like to introduce some of our new members who have joined the Insigneo Institute recently. 

Find out more about Insigneo membership and our members here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/membership 

I am currently a third-year PhD student in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Bologna, supervised by Professor Marco Palanca and Professor Luca Cristofolini. I’m now at the University of Sheffield as a visiting researcher under the supervision of Professor Enrico Dall'Ara for a three-month period abroad.

My research focuses on developing in silico tools to assess the risk of vertebral fracture, with a clinical emphasis on bone diseases, particularly metastases. Specifically, I validate model outputs against experimental data from optical full-field measurement techniques to assess model credibility and support translation to clinical decision-making. I also investigate surgical strategies, including vertebroplasty, for the treatment of metastatic and other bone diseases.

I am currently working with the Active Touch Lab, where my focus is on how top-down processes influence people's body boundary judgements. I also volunteer as a research assistant with the Cognitive and Plasticity Lab, supporting their research on working memory training. Alongside this, I am also volunteering with the Alzheimer's Society as a CrISP support worker, where I provide carers with information and support in a group setting. This year, I also began working as a student academic representative for psychology undergraduates, where I communicate any student feedback to the Students' Union. 

I’m interested in the molecular and genetic basis of disease and how this can be used to develop diagnostic tools and treatments for the betterment of human health.

I am also a member of the School of Biosciences Student-Staff Committee, helping to improve student experience at the university. I am hoping to find more volunteer and research opportunities to develop myself as a scientist.

I am especially excited about the upcoming Women’s Health Innovation Challenge workshop - a field I would like to explore in my future career. I would like to pursue a Master’s degree in Biochemistry, applying my knowledge to tackle the sex and gender gap in scientific research.  

Prior to this appointment, I served as Director of the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre  at Nottingham Trent University. From 2014 to 2016, I was Executive Director of Clinical Research at Sidra Medical & Research Centre (now Sidra Medicine), Doha, Qatar. Earlier in my career, I was Head of Service for Immunohaematology and Transfusion Medicine at Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital (Vatican City) and a Consultant Haematologist at the Catholic University Medical School in Rome, Italy.

My career as an academic physician-scientist has been shaped by a bench-to-bedside-to-bench research paradigm. Over the last three decades, I have led and contributed to clinical and translational research aimed at improving outcomes in acute leukaemia and other haematological malignancies.

The focus of my personal research is delineation of the immune ecosystem of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and identification of immune biomarkers of treatment success and failure. We have characterised the immune transcriptomic profile of a broad cohort of patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed AML and we have shown that patients with an immune-infiltrated tumour microenvironment have a worse prognosis because of chemotherapy refractoriness. We have also led collaborative efforts to identify immune predictors of response to flotetuzumab immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptively infused memory-like NK cells. Our work has directly informed the development of phase I/II immunotherapy trials for adults and children with relapsed/refractory AML.

I am interested in exploring how machine learning and AI models can support the discovery of predictive and prognostic biomarker candidates in haematological malignancies as well as in solid tumours.

His work focuses on using in situ X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and image-based analysis to quantify bone ingrowth in additively manufactured porous implants and to understand how microstructural changes influence load transfer and mechanical stability.

He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield, combining multiscale modelling with advanced characterisation (XCT/SEM) and Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) to study tailored fibre placement composites. He is particularly interested in linking 3D imaging-derived measures of ingrowth and morphology to deformation mechanisms and structure–function relationships, supporting predictive assessment and optimisation of porous implant designs.

Do you have news to share with us?

If you would like us to include information and/or events to this newsletter please email: info@insigneo.org (the newsletter will be issued during the 2nd week of the month, excluding January and August). 

Insigneo members - please let us know when your students are graduating so that we can celebrate their success!

Please ensure that you submit items for inclusion with a minimum of one week's notice.

Guest Lectures, Conferences & Seminars

Please see our useful resource detailing Training and Development Opportunities relevant to Insigneo research themes, including events, conferences and seminars from the University and across a huge range of institutions and organisations. Please note that some are internal to the University of Sheffield.

Insigneo events

2026

5 June
Insigneo cross-theme workshop on preclinical New-Alternative Methods (NAMs) - save the date!

18 June 2026
Insigneo Showcase 2026

A selection of Insigneo seminar recordings are available to view on our YouTube channel.

Other events

18 - 19 March
Get up to speed with STEM Business Breakfast: Robots that save lives, Professor David King

23 - 27 March
N8 CIR: Digital Research Infrastructure Retreat 2026, Manchester

25 March
DT4HT network meeting 
We will have a short presentation from Charles Grellois followed by a presentation by Rajdeep Ghosh on the modelling pipeline of the METASTRA project on vertebrae with bone metastases.

16 April
Women's HealthTech Innovation Network (WHIN) Seminar: Dr Nicholas Farr - save the date

28 - 29 April
Avicenna Days (AAD) 2026 - Celebrating Avicenna Alliance 10^th Anniversary

26 June
Healthy Lifespan Institute (HELSI) Annual Meeting - view the programme.

29-30 June
Human + machine: clinician-led AI for tomorrow's healthcare - 2nd Annual Global AI Conference 2026 

1 - 4 September
VPH 2026

For a full list of upcoming events visit: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/overview/events

Publications

Recruitment of the multiple sclerosis cohort within the European Mobilise-D clinical validation study—lessons learnt, baseline demographics and clinical characteristics (Trials) G. Brittain, E. Buckley, V. Lanfranchi, M. Long, T. Tsaktanis, V. Rothhammer, C. Hansen, K. H. Stürner, W. Maetzler, L. Rochester, L. Sutcliffe, I. Neatrour, B. Vereijken, J. Buekers, J. Garcia-Aymerich, S. Koch, C. Armengol, H. Gassner, C.-P. Jansen, D. Rooks, L. Leocani, G. Brichetto, G. D. Costa, C. Becker, G. Comi, B. Sharrack

CT scoring system to defined thrombus distribution in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (British Journal of Radiology) L. Abdulaal, M. J Sharkey,  A. Maiter, S. Alabed, K. Dwivedi, S. Rajaram, R. Condliffe, D. G. Kiely, A. J. Swift

Deep learning models to map osteocyte networks from confocal microscopy can successfully distinguish between young and aged bone (PLoS computational biology ) S. D. Vetter, C. A. Schurman, T. Alliston, G. Slabaugh, S. W. Verbruggen

Cell electrowriting: An advanced biofabrication approach for micrometre-scale living tissue fabrication (Engineered Regeneration) H. Budharaju

A Virtual Trial to Identify Cardiovascular Biomarkers for Differentiating Diabetic and Hypertensive Kidney Disease  (Annals of Biomedical Engineering) N. Wang, S. P. Sourbron, I. Benemerito, A. Marzo 

Commentary: Autoimmune/Autoinflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA Syndrome) After Polypropylene Mesh Implantation – Protocol of a Pilot Study for Diagnostics and Treatment (Journal of Abdominal Wall Surgery) N. T. H. Farr, J.  W. Cohen Tervaert

A fully automated explainable predictive model for diagnosing pre-capillary and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension on routine unenhanced CT: Results from the ASPIRE registry (European Heart Journal - Digital Health) T. N. Alnasser, A. Hokmabadi, E. W. Checkley, M. J. Sharkey, L. F. Abdulaal, K. S. Alghamdi, P. Garg, A. Maiter, K. Dwivedi, M. Salehi, J. Taylor, P. Metherall, G. A Hyde, Z. M. Goh, D. G. Kiely, S. Alabed, A. J. Swift, ASPIRE Consortium