Prof. Daniel J. Kelly leads a research group at Trinity College Dublin that focuses on regenerating damaged bones and joints. The group uses techniques like hydrogels, stem cells, scaffolds, and bioprinting to develop tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies. Specifically, they aim to repair cartilage and bone defects, and regenerate whole bones and joints using mesenchymal stem cells delivered via biomaterials. The group has shown success regenerating bone in animal models using stem cell-laden scaffolds.

1. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Regenerating Damaged Bones
and Joints
Prof. Daniel J. Kelly
Dept of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, School
of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity Biomedical Science
Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
AMBER (Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research
Centre), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

2. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Research Interests:
• Mechanobiology
– How do adult stem cells respond to
biophysical cues?
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative
Medicine
– Adult Stem Cell / Biomaterial based
therapies for musculoskeletal tissue
regeneration.
Funding:
• European Research Council Starter Grant (€1.5m)/Consolidator Grant (€2m)
• SFI – PIYRA (€1.3m) / IvP Award (€1.7m) / SFI US – Ireland Fund
• AO Foundation; Enterprise Ireland; Irish Research Council.
Lab Overview

3. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
• Core technologies/expertise
– Hydrogels for tissue regeneration
– Mesenchymal stem cells (esp. Infrapatellar fat pad)
– ECM derived scaffolds
– Bioreactors
– Electrospinning
– 3D Bioprinting
• Application areas
– Focal cartilage & osteochondral defect repair
– Large bone defect healing
– Whole bone and joint regeneration
– Ligament regeneration
– Interface tissue engineering
Lab Overview

4. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Osteoarthritis – A major clinical problem
Adopted from Aigner et al. (2006)

5. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Whole Bone and Joint Regeneration
Thompson et al, 2015

6. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs)
Adapted from Caplan (1989; 1994)

7. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Endochondral Bone Tissue Engineering
Sheehy et al, Acta Biomaterilia, 2015.

8. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Endochondral Bone Tissue Engineering
Sheehy et al, 2015.

9. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
100μm
Enhanced Bone Formation In-Vivo
2. PCL Deposition 3. MSC laden
Alginate Deposition
4. Hybrid Scaffold
Channelled Hybrid Scaffold
1. Stem Cell Expansion
3D Bioprinting For Endochondral Bone
Regeneration

10. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
3D Bioprinting For Endochondral Bone
Regeneration

11. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Whole Bone Regeneration
Sheehy et al, Bioresearch Open Access, 2015.

12. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Whole Bone Regeneration
Sheehy et al, Bioresearch Open Access, 2015.

13. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Joint Regeneration

14. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
Joint Regeneration

15. Trinity Centre for Bioengineering
• Current lab members:
– Dr Grainne Cunniffe
– Dr Binulal Sathy
– Dr John Mulvihill
– Dr Sara Romanazzo
– Dr David Browe
– Simon Carroll
– Lu Luo
– Henrique Almeida
– Adam O’Reilly
– Alan Irvine
– Susan Critchley
– Rukmani Sridharan
– Andrew Daly
– Tomas Gonzalez Fernandez
– Pedro Díaz Payno
– Dinorath Olvera
– Paola Aprile
– Johnnie Chu
Acknowledgements
• Funding:
– Science Foundation Ireland (President of Ireland
Young Researcher Award, Research Frontiers
Programme)
– European Research Council
– Enterprise Ireland
– Irish Research Council
• Past lab members:
– Dr Conor Buckley
– Dr Eric Meyer
– Dr Mathew Haugh
– Dr Yurong Liu
– Dr Rajalakshmanan Eswaramoorthy
– Dr Michael Sawkins
– Dr Tariq Mesallati
– Dr Alanna Gannon
– Dr Eamon Sheehy
– Dr Andrew Steward
– Dr Darren Burke
– Dr Thomas Nagel
– Dr Stephen Thorpe
– Dr Eoghan Maher
– Dr Tatiana Vinardel
– Dr Michael Early
– Edoardo Dell’Amico
– Peter Kearney
• Collaborators:
– Prof. Fergal O’Brien (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
– Prof Cathal Moran (Trinity College Dublin)
– Prof. Veronica Campbell (Trinity College Dublin)
– Prof. Paula Murphy (Trinity College Dublin)
– Prof. Conor Buckley (Trinity College Dublin)
– Prof. Pieter Brama (University College Dublin)
– Dr. Garry Duffy (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
– Prof. Kevin Mulhall, (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon,
Mater University Hospital).
– Dr. Mary Murphy (NUI Galway)
– Dr. David Hoey (University of Limerick)
– Prof. Dennis McGonagle (University of Leeds)
– Prof. Chris Jacobs (Columbia University)
– Prof. Diane Wagner (University of Notre Dame)
– Prof. Kurt Hankenson (University of Pennsylvania School of
Veterinary Medicine)
– Prof. Miguel Angel Martınez (University of Zaragoza)
– Prof. Tammy Donahue (Colorado State University)
– Dr. Nicholas Dunne (Queens University Belfast)
– Prof. Eben Alsberg (Case Western Reserve University)
– Prof Joel Boerckel (University of Notre Dame)