Dr Cian Vyas

Dr Cian Vyas is a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering whose research focuses on 3D bioprinting, biofabrication, and advanced biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. He develops new biofabrication approaches that integrate engineering, biomaterials and cell biology to create biologically functional structures that address unmet clinical needs.

His research uses additive manufacturing as a key enabling technology to understand and control how biomaterials, manufacturing processes, and architecture interact to determine the biological and mechanical performance of engineered tissue constructs and medical implants. A central theme is engineering across multiple length scales, with an understanding of process–structure–property relationships used to design materials and architectures that elicit specific biological interactions. This spans microscale features that influence cell behaviour through to tissue-scale structures that reproduce the organisation, anisotropy and functional gradients found in native tissues.

His work integrates biomaterials development with multi-material and multi-scale biofabrication. Key research areas include cell-instructive and decellularised extracellular matrix bioinks, physiological-temperature bioinks, biodegradable multifunctional biomaterials, high-cell-density and spheroid systems, and vascularised or perfusable tissues. These are combined with extrusion and light-based bioprinting, electrospinning, microfluidics and hybrid biofabrication to create complex and multi-material structures. The resulting biomaterials and biofabrication strategies are used across tissue engineering, from corneal and musculoskeletal repair to peripheral nerve regeneration, as well as in antimicrobial wound care and in vitro model development. A particular focus is linking fundamental understanding of material–process interactions to biological response, enabling the rational development of materials, manufacturing strategies, and tissue-scale constructs for specific biomedical applications. A long-term goal is translating these technologies and materials towards patient-specific and point-of-care biofabrication, including minimally invasive and robotic in situ bioprinting, with the aim of enabling reproducible and personalised treatments.

Before joining the University of Exeter, Dr Vyas was a Research Fellow at the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, Nanyang Technological University, where he helped establish advanced biofabrication capabilities and led and contributed to multidisciplinary projects with universities, hospitals, and industry. Prior to this, he was an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow at the University of Manchester, where his research focused on developing cell-instructive bioinks for tissue engineering applications and antimicrobial wound dressings.

Dr Vyas welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students, early career and visiting researchers, academic collaborators, and industry partners. Those interested in potential research projects or wider collaboration are encouraged to get in touch.

For information on available PhD funding opportunities, please see the University of Exeter’s PhD funding page.