College: St Catherine's College
Location: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Marcela Botnar Wing, Oxford OX3 7LD
Site: Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
Research Building: Botnar Research Centre
Malavika Nair is an Associate Professor in Biomaterials at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Malavika is a materials scientist by training, obtaining a BA, MSci in Natural Sciences (2012-2016) and a PhD (2016-2019) from the University of Cambridge. Malavika’s doctoral work was focused on the multiscale characterisation of ice, collagen, and ice-templated collagen scaffolds for tissue engineering.
This was followed by post-doctoral research in 2020 combining machine learning techniques with experimental biomaterials datasets, and the award of a research fellowship at Emmanuel College where Malavika began working on electroactive biomaterials for tissue regeneration.
In 2022, Malavika moved to the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering to establish the SMART Biomaterials Team within the Biomaterials Cluster of the IBME, focused on the development of novel biomaterials with the sensing, modulating, adaptive, regenerative and therapeutic functionalities.
Malavika also holds several leadership positions representing UK Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, including as the Chair of the UK Joint Biomedical Engineering Steering Group, Membership Secretary of the IOM3 Biomedical Materials Division, and as of 2025, Malavika is also a Henry Royce Institute Research Area Lead for Biomedical Materials.
Malavika’s research aims to bridge the gap between existing electronic devices for healthcare, and regenerative implants by exploiting the electromechanical behaviour of biopolymers.
More details on the research projects undertaken by Malavika’s team members can be found in the SMART Biomaterials subpage.
Ms Samantha Baker-Jones - DPhil Student
Mr Matthew Burgess - DPhil Student
Ms Veronica Lucian - DPhil Student
Mr Ryan Murray - DPhil Student
Kae Nicolson - DPhil Student
DPhil students looking to join the research team are advised to a draft research proposal/some elements of what you hope to be working on in your email so that I can advise you of the fit to the projects and areas on offer.
Please check DPhil in Engineering Science for specific guidance on the admission requirements and application process.
I currently lecture the following undergraduate courses in Engineering Science:
First year:
P1 – Ordinary Differential Equations (Modelling)
Third year:
B6 – Engineering Alloys
B8 – Polymers
B17 – Biomechanics
B18 – Cellular Physiology
Fourth year:
C28 – Mechanics and Connective Tissue
I am passionate about using the platform I have to engage people in the fields of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, as well as sharing my team’s work on developing smart biomedical devices. The following videos are grouped as either ‘General’ or ‘Technical’ talks, lectures and podcasts on biomaterials.
GENERAL
- As part of the 2023 University of Oxford 2023 Open Days, I provided a taster lecture to prospective students to discover more about biomedical engineering and what it is like to be an Engineering Science Undergraduate Student at Oxford, entitled ‘How can we build better implants?’:
- In 2021, I did a short profile on the work I began during my research fellowship at Emmanuel College as part of the Emma Connects: Fellows’ Research Shorts Series:
- A 2019 Naked Scientists’ Podcast on Scaffolds for Skin Tissue played live on BBC Cambridgeshire
- A short presentation given as part of Churchill College MCR’s ChuTalks Series in 2018 on ‘A Song of Ice and Collagen: Fine-tuning collagen scaffolds’:
Nair M, Bica I, Best SM, Cameron RE, et al. (2024)
Bax DV, Nair M, Weiss AS, Farndale RW, Best SM, Cameron RE, et al. (2024)
Margaronis K, Busolo T, Nair M, Chalklen T, Kar-Narayan S, et al. (2024)
Lucian V, Lyons B, Gray M, Coussios C, Nair M, et al. (2024)
Barberio C, Saez J, Withers A, Nair M, Tamagnini F, Owens RM, et al. (2023)
Fhionnlaoich NM, Schrettl S, Tito NB, Yang Y, Nair M, Serrano LA, Harkness K, Silva PJ, Frauenrath H, Stellacci F, Guldin S, et al. (2023)
Fhionnlaoich NM, Schrettl S, Tito NB, Yang Y, Nair M, Serrano LA, Harkness K, Silva PJ, Frauenrath H, Stellacci F, Guldin S, et al. (2023)
Nair M, Husmann A, Cameron RE, Best SM, et al. (2022)
Nair M, Inwald E, Ives L, See KRM, Kar-Narayan S, et al. (2021)
Mac Fhionnlaoich N, Schrettl S, Tito NB, Yang Y, Nair M, Serrano LA, Harkness K, Silva PJ, Frauenrath H, Serra F, Carter WC, Stellacci F, Guldin S, et al. (2021)