Professor Helen Colley

BSc, PhD

School of Clinical Dentistry

Professor of Tissue Engineering

h.colley@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 215 9352
S10 2TA, 19 Claremont Crescent

Full contact details

Professor Helen Colley
School of Clinical Dentistry
S10 2TA
19 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
Profile

I completed my PhD in 2007 in the Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield specialising in tissue engineering. After several years as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, I was appointed Lecturer in Oral Bioscience in 2012 and promoted to Professor of Tissue Engineering in 2024. I am the School lead for Postgraduate Research.

My current research combines my interests in tissue engineering and epithelial biology where I supervise various translational and interdisciplinary research projects at all levels. 

I teach Human Anatomy and Principles in Tissue Engineering in the School of Clinical Dentistry and across other departments at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Research interests

My main research interest is in tissue engineering of the oral mucosa and skin, particularly the generation of novel three-dimensional in vitro models to assist in understanding the fundamentals of disease processes and the development of novel diagnostic strategies, next-generation therapeutics and drug delivery mechanisms. 

Current projects

Tissue-engineered three-dimensional in vitro models in health and disease

  • The use of induced stem cells in modelling skin disease (funded by EPSRC).
  • Development and characterisation of an in vitro immuno-competent oral mucosal model to evaluate xenobiotic metabolism and inducible allergic responses (funded by MRC).
  • Modelling T-cell interactions in oral inflammatory disease.
  • Understanding the role of the extracellular matrix in oral cancer progression.
  • Development of an immune-competent human skin equivalent model of atopic dermatitis for pre-clinical drug testing (Industrial studentship with Almirall, S.A).
  • Exploring the role of extracellular vesicles in chemotherapy resistance in head and neck cancer.

Novel drugs and novel methods of drug delivery

  • Fabrication and toxicity testing of drug-loaded oral patches to expedite wound repair following tooth extraction (funded by EPSRC with Industrial collaborators AFYX Therapeutics, APS).
  • Novel strategies for the transmucosal delivery of biofunctional peptides using electrospun polymer patches (funded by EPSRC with Industrial collaborators AFYX Therapeutics, APS).

Novel diagnostics

  • Electric impedance spectroscopy and machine learning-based decision support system for early diagnosis of oral cancer (funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research Sheffield Pioneers Award).
Publications

Journal articles

  • Edmans JG, El-Howati A, Slowik KM, Colley HE, Murdoch C, Hatton PV & Armes SP (2025) . ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17(24), 35140-35154.
  • El-Howati A, Edmans JG, Santocildes-Romero ME, Madsen LS, Murdoch C & Colley HE (2025) . Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 145(6), 1447-1458.
  • Slowik KM, Edmans JG, Harrison S, Edwards SM, Bolt R, Spain SG, Hatton PV, Murdoch C & Colley HE (2024) . Journal of Controlled Release, 376, 253-265.
  • Edwards SM, Harding AL, Leedale JA, Webb SD, Colley HE, Murdoch C & Bearon RN (2024) . International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 666.
  • Quílez C, Bebiano LB, Jones E, Maver U, Meesters L, Parzymies P, Petiot E, Rikken G, Risueño I, Zaidi H , Zidarič T et al (2024) . Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 144(12), 2650-2670.
  • Edmans JG, Harrison S, Hatton PV, Murdoch C, Spain SG & Colley HE (2024) . Biomaterials Advances, 157.
Research group

Post-doctoral research assistants

  • Dr Klaudia Slowik: Tissue-engineering strategies for investigating topical mRNA vaccine delivery (PI; BBSRC Mission Award).
  • Dr Jake Edman: Investigating polymersome-mediated mRNA vaccine delivery (PI; BBSRC Mission Award).
  • Dr Asma El Howati: Pre-clinical evaluation of cold atmospheric plasma-mediated drug delivery for the treatment of inflammatory skin disease (PI; MRC IAA Award).

Post-graduate research students

  • Cerys Evans (primary supervisor with Professor P Hatton): Incorporation of microneedles into electrospun mucoadhesive patches.
  • Claire Johnson (primary supervisor with Professor C Murdoch): Development of a multi-cellular tissue-engineered model of T-cell inflammatory disease. 
  • Faisal Alhedyan (primary supervisor with Dr Stuart Hunt and Professor Keith Hunter): Tissue-engineering strategies to investigate oral cancer progression by modelling the epigenome in oral dysplasia. 
Teaching interests

I was previously the Theme Leader for the Human Body theme (DEN11001) for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (2018-2023) and the Module Lead for Biomedical Science (HCS1010, HCS6301) on the BMedSci in Speech Therapy and MMedSci in Clinical Communication Studies (2012-2023).

My main teaching interest is in Human Anatomy. I currently teach and assess on:

  • DEN11001: The Human Body (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)
  • DEN11002: The Oral Cavity in Health and Disease (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)
  • DEN123: Introduction to the Human Body (BSc Bio-Dental Science and Technology)
  • DEN124: The Head and Oral Cavity in Health and Disease (BSc Bio-Dental Science and Technology)
  • DEN223: Nutrition, Disease and Materials ((BSc Bio-Dental Science and Technology)
  • DEN11004: Introduction to the Human Body (Diploma in Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy)
Professional activities and memberships
  • COST- Action (OC-2021-1-25129) NETSKINMODELS: European Network for Skin Engineering and Modeling Management Committee member.
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
  • School of Clinical Dentistry Executive Committee member.
  • Committee member of the School of Clinical Dentistry Research Committee.
  • Chair of the School of Clinical Dentistry Postgraduate Research Committee.
  • Member of The Anatomical Society, British Society of Cell Biology and European Association of Oral Medicine.