Professor Mark Jones

• Fibrosis
• Biomimetic models
• Early diagnosis and treatment initiation

Professor Jones’s research is focused on human fibrotic diseases where there is significant unmet need.

Inter-disciplinary studies

Leveraging technological advances through integrated, inter-disciplinary approaches provides the opportunity to significantly advance our understanding of factors determining the development and progression of fibrotic diseases.

Through the Institute for Life Science we collaborate with colleagues in Engineering, Mathematics, and Chemistry as well as internationally to perform integrative structural and functional analyses of human lung fibrosis, applying approaches including spatial 'omics, label free imaging, atomic force microscopy, and multi-scale biomechanical testing to identify and dissect key pathogenetic mechanisms underlying progressive human lung fibrosis.

3D in vitro models of human fibrotic disease

There is a disconnect between increasing advances in understanding and modulating fibrosis in the experimental setting utilising animal models of fibrosis, and the very limited translation of these findings into effective treatments for patients. Informed by our human fibrosis tissue analyses we establish and validate advanced long term primary human cell-based culture models with human disease relevance for mechanistic and therapeutic targeting studies.

Dissecting mechanisms of progressive fibrosis

The factors that determine why fibrosis progresses rather than normal tissue repair occurs remain poorly understood. Current research in collaboration with colleagues in Biological Sciences is focussed upon microenvironmental determinants of this process, with the aim in partnership with Pharma of pharmacologically modulating aberrant fibrotic properties to halt progressive fibrosis.

Core factors dysregulating the  fibrosis microenvironment and initiating progressive fibrosis development

Our understanding of fibrosis development has been significantly informed by studies of end-stage tissue. We are investigating key clinical, radiologic, and biomarker risk factors for the development of fibrosis, and then investigating identified pathobiology through biomimetic models of the tissue microenvironment. The ultimate aim of our work is to identify at risk individuals and then initiate disease-modifying treatments prior to the onset of symptoms.

Early patient diagnosis and treatment

The optimum models of care for patients with lung fibrosis remain uncertain. As clinical lead of the interstitial lung disease service he supports studies investigating  new models of care for patients, from point of symptom development to early diagnosis, treatment initiation, and multi-disciplinary team follow up.