Objective The control of stem cell fate via external stimulation (ES) is a vital contribution to the advancement of tissue engineering (TE) for regenerative medicine (RM). In this project we propose a highly sensitive real-time characterisation of stem cells during applied ES in order to fully understand and elucidate cellular mechanisms during differentiation. This will be achieved using three major vectors of research; new conductive polymer (CP) materials for the ES of stem cells, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Raman microspectroscopy (RMS) live cell phenotyping. Real-time characterisation using AFM can directly measure single cell elasticity changes from differentiation mechanics such as reorganisation of the cytoskeleton. RMS of living cells can determine the progression of differentiation through changes in biomolecular composition. The combination of these two techniques will provide significantly improved single stem cell characterisation over current techniques, and is fast, non-invasive, and non-destructive.The differentiation of the stem cells will be driven by external electrical and mechanical stimulation delivered by new CP materials. Control of the ES coupled with the real time characterisation of cells will bring about new understanding of how this ES influences the differentiation of stem cells into the desired phenotype. Improved stem cell differentiation will further refine our knowledge in the TE field, and producing specifically fated cell phenotypes will improve the clinical application of TE for generating new tissues for applications such as cardiac, wound, or bone repair. Fields of science medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologytissue engineeringnatural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciencesnatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopymedical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cellsengineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterials Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE Net EU contribution € 195 454,80 Address SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD SW7 2AZ LONDON United Kingdom See on map Region London Inner London — West Westminster Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 195 454,80