Dr Eirini Theodosiou

Senior Lecturer, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry Aston University

Birmingham

Dr Theodosiou's main expertise is in the development of technologies for the isolation of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).

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Spotlight

Mar 10, 2025

1 min

Lab grown meat could be on sale in UK within two years - but what is lab-grown meat?

Meat, dairy and sugar grown in a lab could be on sale in the UK for human consumption for the first time within two years, sooner than expected. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is looking at how it can speed up the approval process for lab-grown foods. Such products are grown from cells in small chemical plants. UK firms have led the way in the field scientifically but feel they have been held back by the current regulations. Aston University has been working on cultivated meat find out more about what lab-made meat is made of and how it is created in the podcast Breaking Down Barriers on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/7bFy1gr2LJCwiRLPAT9Hml For further details contact Nicola Jones, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7825 342091 or email: n.jones6@aston.ac.uk

May 10, 2023

2 min

Aston University predicted as one of the UK’s leading centres for lab-made meat

Aston University named as one of the UK’s leaders in the potential future of food Highlighted for research, teaching, public outreach, industry links and location Process uses cells taken from animals via biopsy, so doesn’t involve slaughter. Aston University has been named as one of the UK’s leading lights in what is predicted to be the future of food lab-made meat. The University is one of 17 higher education institutions that are expected to play a major role in the development of cultivated meat. Cultivated or lab-grown meat is made from cells taken from animals via biopsy. The cells are used to create meat which doesn’t involve the slaughter of animals. The process promises fewer greenhouse gases and a decrease in land required for its production compared to traditional livestock. The list of universities has been compiled by Cellular Agriculture UK, a non-profit organisation which promotes the UK’s so-called ‘cell-ag’ sector. Aston University is one of five institutions they chose to highlight in their report Mapping the potential for UK universities to become research and teaching hubs for cellular agriculture. Aston University is described in the report as having potential to be an anchor institution for cellular agriculture, and was highlighted for its research and teaching, public outreach work, links with emerging industry and its central location. Dr Eirini Theodosiou, senior lecturer in the School of lnfrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, focuses on ways to produce enough cell mass to create the meat. She said: “This is still a relatively new food technology. Unlike many others we work on biomaterials for microcarriers/scaffolds for cultivated meat, which puts us in a very strong position, in the UK at least.” Meanwhile Dr Jason Thomas’ work explores the psychology behind supporting people to accept lab-made food. Although many people are willing to try it, there are still many who are reluctant to do so. A recent study of the US and UK found that 35% of meat eaters and 55% of vegetarians claimed they were too disgusted by the idea of cultured meat to even try it. A key goal of his research is how to support people to not just try it but to integrate it into their diet. Dr Thomas said: “We are interested in finding out what factors can influence consumer purchase of and consumption of lab-made meat.” “The engineering/psychology link is one of our USPs and is something Aston University can capitalise on; learning what the consumer wants from cultivated meat, and what would encourage them to consume it, using psychological science, and then incorporating this directly into the production process via engineering. “It is a relatively new food technology, and much work still needs to be done to make it affordable, acceptable and on a massive scale, but it could easily end up being one of the most transformative new foods of the 21st century.”

Apr 4, 2023

2 min

Society matters LIVE: Lab made meat on the menu?

Research at Aston University focuses on both creating lab-based meat and its psychological acceptance Dr Eirini Theodosiou and Dr Jason Thomas will be speaking at April’s Society matters LIVE event Lab made meat on the menu? will take place at Cafe Artum in Hockley Social Club on Thursday 27 April. Lab made meat will be the topic of the latest Society matters LIVE event from Aston University at Café Artum at Birmingham’s Hockley Social Club on Thursday 27 April. Dr Eirini Theodosiou and Dr Jason Thomas at Aston University are conducting research into lab-made or cultivated meat, both exploring the creation of the meat and the psychological impact of the product. Dr Eirini Theodosiou, senior lecturer in the School of lnfrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, focuses on ways to produce enough cell mass to create the meat. Meanwhile Dr Jason Thomas’ work explores the psychology behind supporting people to accept lab-made food. The research comes as current trends indicate that demand for animal-based foods will increase by 70% in 2050 to feed the predicted 9.8 billion people. Dr Theodosiou said: “Cultivated or lab grown meat offers a safer, more sustainable and animal cruelty-free alternative for consumers. It is a very young industry trying to replace traditional meat production methods however, with 800 million people worldwide suffering from hunger and malnutrition, it is a viable option.” “In addition, the livestock industry is responsible for 12-18% of the total greenhouse gas emissions and is a cause of deforestation. Increased meat production and factory farming are the topmost likely causes of the next pandemic due to the extensive use of antibiotics and increasing emergence of zoonotic diseases.” Dr Thomas said: “It is a relatively new food technology, and much work still needs to be done to make it affordable and on a massive scale. We are interested in finding out what factors can influence consumer purchase of and consumption of lab-made meat.” The event is organised by Aston University and Café Artum at Hockley Social Club as part of the Society matters LIVE series. Free tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lab-made-meat-on-the-menu-tickets-464161147487?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

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Biography

Dr Theodosiou is an experienced biochemical engineer who has been leading industrial and academic research teams for more than 15 years.

Her main expertise is in the development of technologies for the isolation of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), as well as the design of new and improved support materials for efficient growth and differentiation of stem cells for tissue engineering and cultivated meat applications.

She has a long track record in authoring research outputs and disseminating findings related to biopharmaceutical process development and holds 1 patent.

She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Areas of Expertise

Biochemical Engineering

Biopharmaceutical Process Development

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)

Bioprocessing Tools

Stem Cell Biology

Education

DTU - Technical University of Denmark

PhD

Biotechnology

Ethniko Metsovio Polytechnico

MEng

Chemical Engineering

University of London

MSc

Biochemical Engineering

Affiliations

Member of the University Senate

Media Appearances

Cultivated meat: The food of the future?

Aston Originals online

2022-09-01

Professor Claire Farrow and Dr Eirini Theodosiou, from Aston University, discuss their latest research around the subject: Cultivated meat: The food of the future?

Articles

Poly (butylene succinate) fibrous dressings containing natural antimicrobial agents

Journal of Industrial Textiles

2022

Poly(butylene succinate) (PBSU) is a biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic aliphatic polyester, which has been used extensively in packaging, catering and agriculture, and more recently in drug delivery and bone and cartilage repair. PBSU-based mats created by electrospinning show promise as wound dressing materials because of their good mechanical properties, high surface area-to-volume ratio and increased levels of porosity. In this work, we present the creation of antimicrobial PBSU fibrous mats through the incorporation of natural food grade agents via blend electrospinning. Three types of edible gums (namely arabic, karaya and tragacanth), two essential oils (coriander and lavender), and one free fatty acid (linoleic acid) were added to PBSU containing a chain extender and their effect on six clinically relevant pathogens was evaluated. Mats containing essential oils at the highest concentration studied (7% w/v) showed some antimicrobial behaviour against S. aureus, E. hirae and P. aeruginosa, whereas the incorporation of linoleic acid at both concentrations tested (3% and 5% w/v) gave a strong reaction against S. pyogenes. Gum arabic was the only gum that had a considerable impact on S. aureus. Furthermore, the three gums enhanced the mechanical properties of the polymer mats and brought them closer to those of the human skin, whilst all agents maintained the high biocompatibility of the PBSU mats when contacted with mouse fibroblasts. This work, for the first time, shows the great promise of PBSU blended fibres as a skin substitute and paves the way towards bioactive and cost effective wound dressings from renewable materials.

Chemically cross‐linked poly (vinyl alcohol) electrospun fibrous mats as wound dressing materials

Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology

2022

BACKGROUND
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a synthetic biocompatible polymer that is extensively used by the medical and pharmaceutical industries due to its FDA approval for in vivo applications. Its highly hydrophilic nature makes it an ideal wound dressing material, especially in the form of nanofibrous mats.

RESULTS
In this work, electrospun PVA-based scaffolds suitable for wound management were created. Chemical cross-linking with citric acid and glyoxal was employed to enhance the supports’ stability in aqueous environments, and cellulose nanocrystals were added during the electrospinning process to improve the mechanical properties of the final constructs. Varying the concentrations of the cross-linking agents (0.12-1 wt% citric acid and 0.06-0.5 wt% glyoxal), allowed the control of the rate and extend of dissolution, thereby tuning the properties of the materials to the specific wound types (e.g. acute vs chronic). There was an inverse relationship between the amount of cross-linkers used and the mats’ weight loss (ranging from 2% to 18%) after 6 days immersion in water. All supports sustained the growth of human fibroblasts (>85% viability), whereas there was no biofilm formation when in contact with S. aureus for 24 hours. The presence of cellulose nanocrystals did not affect cytocompatibility but improved the mechanical properties of the non-woven fibres.

CONCLUSION
Tailor-made biocompatible electrospun mats showing antimicrobial behaviour were successfully created through altering the concentration of chemical cross-linkers. This flexible approach offers the potential of matching the dressing to the wound type and offering a more targeted solution to wound management.

Novel Microcarriers for the Scalable Production on Cultivated Meat

Cultivate

2022

Project Aims
•Screen and characterise suitable edible biomaterials & engineer scaffolds
•Culture, expand and differentiate bovine mesenchymal stem cells in static conditions
•Engineer microcarriers from scaffolds and scale up the process to bioreactors
•Improve consumer acceptance for cultivated meats
•Provide standards for the textural properties of cultivated beef burgers

Conclusions
•Silk fibroin scaffolds were created using electrospinning.
•MeOH treatment affected fibre morphology, strength and protein secondary structure
•Silk fibroin scaffolds supported bMSC growth
•Early work on mechanical properties of beef burgers identified desirable textural properties for cultivated meats