I hold a Ph.D. in Biology from Goettingen University, Germany. I am trained as a progenitor stem cell biologist/cartilage biologist under the supervision of Prof. Nicolai Miosge (my Ph.D. supervisor), Prof. Vicki Rosen (our collaborator at Harvard University) and Prof. Tonia Vincent (my postdoc supervisor at University of Oxford). My Ph.D. research was focused on the investigation of the meniscus progenitor stem cells in the inner part of the meniscus to understand their pathophysiological mechanisms in meniscus tissue regeneration. Osteoarthritis is a multifactorial disease and one of the major factors is meniscal failure which doesn’t heal. In particular, the inner part of meniscus has very rare or no self-intrinsic repair capability. The Meniscus acts as a safeguard which prevent direct bone-on-bone exposure.
Following my PhD, I was awarded a Postdoctoral scholarship by Washington University in St. Louis, USA, in the department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where, I examined an OA transgenic mouse model to explore the role of a chondroprotective gene. After my Postdoc at Washington University, I got a scholarship at Imagine Institute, INSERM, Paris, France. In Paris my research project was on skeletal progenitor stem cells and their role in regeneration of the bone tissue.
In September 2016 I took up a postdoctoral research position (around 6 years project) awarded by the University of Oxford, in the research group of Prof. Tonia Vincent, Kennedy institute of Rheumatology. I explored the impact of pericellular matrix bound growth factors on stem cells and cartilage regeneration.
Recently in March 2022 I joined Prof. Andrew McCaskie/Dr. Mark Birch research group at department of Surgery University of Cambridge, as a research associate. My project aims to understand the cell biological mechanisms and pathways in cartilage regeneration including one trigger by cartilage injury to promote a repair response.
Key publications
Hayat Muhammad, Yoach Rais, Nicolai Miosge and Efrat Monsonego Ornan “Primary cilium as dual sensor of mechanochemical signals in chondrocytes” Cell Mol Life Sci. 2012 Jul; 69 (13): 2101-7.
Hayat Muhammad, Boris Schminke and Nicolai Miosge “Current concepts in stem cell therapy for articular cartilage repair” Expert Opin Biol Ther. April 2013, Vol. 13 No. 4 Pages 541-548.
Boris Schminke*, Hayat Muhammad*, Christa Bode, Boguslawa Sadowski, Regina Gerter, Nikolaus Gersdorff, Ralf Buergers, Efrat Monsonego-Ornan, Vicki Rosen, Nicolai Miosge “Discoidin domain receptor 1 knock-out mice as novel model for osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint” Cell Mol Life Sci. March 2014, Vol 71, Issue 6, pp 1081-1096. (* equal contribution).
Hayat Muhammad, Boris Schminke, Christa Bode, Moritz Roth, Julius Albert, Silvia von der Heyde, Vicki Rosen and Nicolai Miosge “Human migratory meniscus progenitor cells are controlled via the TGF-beta pathway” Stem cell reports, Vol. 3, Issue 5, November 2014, Page 789-803.
Xiaodi Tang, Hayat Muhammad, Celia McLean, Jadwiga Zarebska, Jacob Fleming, Athanasios Didangelos, Patrik, Oennerfjord, Andrew Leask, Jeremy Saklatvala, Tonia Vincent”Connective tissue growth factor contributes to joint homeostasis and osteoarthritis severity by controlling the matrix sequestration and activation of latent TGF-β” Ann Rheum Dis 2018;77:1372–1380.
Noman Chaudhry*, Hayat Muhammad*, Christine Seidl, Damien Downes, David Young, Linyi Zhu, Tonia Vincent “Highly efficient CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing identifies novel mechanosensitive microRNA-140 targets in primary human articular chondrocytes” Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Volume 30, Issue 4, April 2022, Pages 596-604. (* equal contribution).
Areas of expertise
Progenitor stem cells, stem cell differentiation, cartilage repair, Mesenchymal stem cells/progenitor stem cells/chondrocyte niches, Growth factors
