Qasim Rafiq's Biography

Qasim Rafiq, Research Fellow, Loughbrough University

Having obtained his Masters in Engineering from University College London specialising in Biochemical Engineering, Qasim was part of the original cohort of the newly established Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine at Loughborough University where he completed his PhD investigating the development of a standardised manufacturing process for the clinical-scale production of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) in collaboration with Lonza under the supervision of Professor Christopher Hewitt.
Following a competitive process, Qasim was awarded a 2-year EPSRC E-TERM Landscape Research Fellowship where he is now investigating the use of the ambr automated bioreactor system as a process development tool for hMSC microcarrier culture as well as the utilisation of analytical tools (metabolomics, proteomics and metallomics) to improve hMSC yield and quality. Qasim also leads the hMSC team within the Cell Technologies group at Loughborough University.