Elena Jones

Elena Jones is an Associate professor in Stem Cell Biology in the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. She graduated with a BSc in Immunology and obtained a PhD in Experimental Oncology from the All-Union Cancer Research Centre, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow. Her post-doctoral studies were performed in Leeds Molecular Medicine Unit and were dedicated to gene therapy with stem cells. Since joining the Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, her research interests are focused on the study of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in health and disease and their use in Regenerative Medicine. In 2002 she described the phenotype of native/uncultured MSCs in bone marrow and in 2004 she discovered MSCs in synovial fluid. Her MSC isolation methodology based on the CD271 marker has been adopted by the Industry, initially as research methodology and subsequently as a clinical-grade process. She has subsequently developed novel ideas on large-scale extraction of MSCs from soft tissues (synovium and joint fat) and from surgical by-products (reaming waste bags and fatty marrow). She is currently working towards the therapeutic use of minimally-manipulated uncultured MSCs in bone repair applications including novel quality-control assays for cell manufacture. In relation to cartilage tissue regeneration her major interest lies in the use of endogenous synovial MSCs in combination with biomimetic scaffolds in patients with early osteoarthritis. She continues to explore the biology of synovial fluid MSCs including their homeostatic trafficking and therapeutic targeting to injured areas.

Biography Updated on 3 September 2013

Scholarly Contributions [Data Provided by ]