About
Dr Rahul Tare is a Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Science and Bioengineering in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Rahul’s research interests include human stem cells, skeletal development and tissue engineering primarily, cartilage tissue engineering. Rahul’s interdisciplinary research harnesses human stem cells (bone marrow-derived skeletal stem cells, articular cartilage-derived progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells), natural and synthetic biomaterials, and advanced bioreactor technologies to tissue engineer 3D cartilage grafts for the repair of articular cartilage defects caused by daily wear-and-tear or trauma. If the articular cartilage defects are not repaired, progressive cartilage degeneration causes osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis affecting ~9 million people in the UK and ~630 million individuals worldwide. Rahul’s research also seeks to gain insight into the pathogenesis of debilitating skeletal diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis by elucidating the mechanisms that regulate skeletal development.
To date, Rahul has successfully supervised 15 PhD students to completion (Primary Supervisor to 5 PhD students), who have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry and Medicine. Rahul's research has been widely published in high-impact journals (over 50 peer-reviewed original research articles, reviews and book chapters; more than 4000 citations) and he holds two patents. The cartilage tissue engineering work has been covered by the BBC and New Scientist and widely published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals. Notably, the research article on cartilage generation using human embryonic stem cells was one of the top 100 downloaded cell and molecular biology papers for Scientific Reports in 2021 and featured in a Nature Portfolio collection entitled, Stem Cells: from single cells to the clinic (June 2022). The research article on the application of acoustofluidics for cartilage tissue engineering was included in the top 30 most downloaded articles published in Lab on a Chip in 2014.
Rahul teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Personal Academic Tutor to a number of students. Rahul also serves as the Deputy Programme Director of the MRes in Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine and contributes to the design, organisation, teaching and delivery of the various modules in the programme.
Potential PhD candidates and researchers interested in stem cells, skeletal development and skeletal tissue engineering are encouraged to contact Rahul.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Human stem cells
- Skeletal development
- Tissue engineering primarily, cartilage tissue engineering
Current research
Current research projects
1. Application of amniotic membrane and umbilical cord allografts in a scaffold-based tissue engineering approach for augmentation of articular cartilage repair [Industry-funded research project]
2. Generating cartilage from human pluripotent stem cells [Collaborators: Dr Franchesca Houghton & Dr Janos Kanczler – University of Southampton; Mr Gorav Datta - Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon, University Hospital Southampton]
3. Stem cell populations from human osteoarthritic cartilage: isolation, characterisation and application in articular cartilage regeneration strategies [Collaborators: Prof Richard Oreffo – University of Southampton; Prof Andrew Zannettino – University of Adelaide]
Research funding
1. Application of amniotic membrane and umbilical cord allografts in a scaffold-based tissue engineering approach for augmentation of articular cartilage repair - Industry-funded grant; Nov 2021 for 18 months; Dr Rahul Tare.
2. Generating cartilage from pluripotent stem cells - MRC Confidence in Concept and EPSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts grants; Sep 2019 for 2 years; Dr Franchesca Houghton, Dr Rahul Tare.
3. Generating cartilage from a clinically relevant population of human cells - Rosetrees Trust PhD Plus & Institute for Life Sciences (IfLS), University of Southampton (UoS), grants; Jun 2019 for 1 year; Dr Franchesca Houghton, Dr Rahul Tare.
4. Application of STRO-4- immunoreactive human skeletal stem cells for cartilage regeneration - Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration & IfLS, UoS, PhD Studentships; Oct 2016 for 3 years; Dr Rahul Tare, Prof Xunli Zhang, Prof Richard Oreffo.
5. Harnessing clay gels and droplet microfluidics for cartilage tissue engineering - Versus Arthritis PhD Scholarship; Oct 2016 for 4 years; Dr Jon Dawson, Prof Xize Niu, Dr Rahul Tare.
6. Effects of conditional knockout of the Bag-1 gene on chondrogenesis and osteogenesis in murine skeletal development - General Research Fund, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong; Dec 2015 for 3 years; Prof Kenneth Lee, Dr Rahul Tare.
7. Generating cartilage from human embryonic stem cells to treat osteoarthritis - Rosetrees Trust grant; Oct 2015 for 3 years; Dr Franchesca Houghton, Dr Rahul Tare.
8. Application of a custom-built acoustofluidic perfusion bioreactor to model differentiation of human embryonic stem cells and bioengineer neocartilage explants - IfLS & Faculty of Medicine (FoM), UoS, PhD Studentships; Oct 2015 for 3 years; Dr Franchesca Houghton, Dr Rahul Tare.
9. Multimodal label-free imaging for stem cell plasticity and skeletal regeneration – IfLS, FoM & Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, UoS, PhD Studentships; Oct 2014 for 3 years; Prof Sumeet Mahajan, Prof Richard Oreffo, Dr Rahul Tare.
10. Application of a novel perfusion bioreactor with integrated ultrasound standing wave trap for augmentation of cartilage bioengineering - Wessex Medical Research Innovation Grant; Sep 2013 for 2 years; Dr Rahul Tare.
11. Modelling tumour microenvironment interactions using a novel 3-D co-culture system – Cancer Research UK & FoM, UoS, PhD Scholarships; Oct 2012 for 3 years; Prof Graham Packham, Dr Rahul Tare.
12. Insight into the physiology of skeletal development: Role of Bcl-2-associated athanogene-1 – FoM, UoS, PhD Scholarship; Oct 2011 for 3 years; Dr Rahul Tare, Prof Paul Townsend, Prof Richard Oreffo.
13. Insight into the physiology of skeletal development: Role of Bcl-2-associated athanogene-1 - European Calcified Tissue Society Career Establishment Award; July 2011 for 3 years; Dr Rahul Tare.
14. A multidisciplinary strategy for bioengineering hyaline cartilage using skeletal stem cells - UoS FoM Research Management Committee (RMC) pump priming grant; Jan 2011 for 1 year; Dr Rahul Tare.
15. Bioengineering cartilage: A multidisciplinary approach - FoM & Faculty of Engineering, UoS, PhD Scholarships; Oct 2010 for 3 years; Dr Rahul Tare, Dr Bram Sengers, Prof Richard Oreffo.
16. Unravelling the role of Bcl-2-associated athanogene-1 in skeletal development - UoS FoM RMC pump priming grant; Jan 2010 for 1 year; Dr Rahul Tare.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Pagination
Teaching
Code Module
MEDI1033 Locomotor
MEDI3048 BM Research Project
MEDI6221 MMedSc Scientific Review (Module Lead)
MEDI6220 MMedSc Research Project
MEDI3039 BM4 Year 2 Foundations of Medicine
MEDI6225 MRes Research Project 1 (Module Lead)
MEDI6224 MRes Advanced Scientific Skills (Module Lead)
MEDI6223 MRes Stem Cells, Development & Regenerative Medicine
(Deputy Module Lead)
MEDI6222 MRes Research Project 2 (Deputy Module Lead)
MEDI6107 Foundations of Diabetes
MEDI6226 Human Biology & Systems Physiology
SESM3028 Biomaterials
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Dr Rahul Tare is a Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Science and Bioengineering in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Rahul’s research interests include human stem cells, skeletal development and tissue engineering primarily, cartilage tissue engineering. To date, Rahul has successfully supervised 15 PhD students to completion (Primary Supervisor to 5 PhD students). Rahul's research has been widely published in high-impact journals (over 50 peer-reviewed original research articles, reviews and book chapters; more than 4000 citations) and he holds two patents.
Rahul teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, supports a number of students in his role as Personal Academic Tutor and serves as the Deputy Programme Director of the MRes in Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine.
EDUCATION
10/2010 – 2/2013 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Southampton
10/1999 – 9/2002 PhD, University of Southampton (awarded in Dec 2002)
Thesis: Osteoblast-stimulating factor-1 (OSF-1): A peptide with diverse roles in bone development
Recipient of the prestigious Overseas Research Students (ORS) Award by the UK Consortium of Universities and PhD bursary awarded by the Wishbone Trust
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
5/2010 – present
Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine (FoM), University of Southampton (UoS)
1/2009 – 4/2010
Senior Post Doctoral Career Track Fellow, Bone and Joint Group, FoM, UoS
7/2008 – 12/2008
Post Doctoral Career Track Fellow, Bone and Joint Group, FoM, UoS
3/2004 – 6/2008
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Bone and Joint Group, FoM, UoS
10/2002 – 2/2004
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Dept. of Cell Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA
Prizes
- Career Establishment Award by the European Calcified Tissue Society (2011)
- Postdoctoral Career Track Award supported by Wellcome Trust Value in People Award from Faculty of Medicine, UoS (2008)
- Best poster discussion prize sponsored by L’ORÉAL - Annual Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society European Chapter Meeting, London, UK (2007)