Aya holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Bath with her thesis focussing on the development of a highly sensitive multi-electrode array for the study of glioblastoma multiforme, breast cancer, and stem cell differentiation. Her work was funded by a Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship and, in 2020, she was selected as an Innovator Under 35 by MIT Technology Review MENA. She joined the Armstrong Group as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in June 2022 and is working on a project seeking to develop complex models of the human brain.
Mina conducted her PhD at the University of Sheffield, working in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. During her PhD, she focused on the development of poly (glycerol sebacate)-co-poly(ethylene glycol) biomaterials for biomedical applications and 3D printing, and was also involved in a project creating a 3D human skin model mimicking the dermal-epidermal junction. Mina joined the Armstrong Group in April 2024 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and heads up the development of innovative biomaterials for the biological integration of artificial muscles as part of the EPSRC-funded emPOWER project.