Staff Profiles

Mrs Isma Liza Mohd

BMed Sc., PhD

Biography

Isma Liza Mohd Isa is an HRB Principal Investigator in CÚRAM and an Honorary Research Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine. She is also a senior lecturer in Anatomy at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She graduated Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Honours) from UKM in 2006. She was conferred a PhD (Anatomy) from the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, in 2017. She did her post-doctorate in spine research at CÚRAM, NUI Galway (2017-2020), and the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, UKM (2021). Her research focuses on degenerative disc disease, specifically modulating inflammatory pain and tissue regeneration using biomaterials and stem cells. Through a precision medicine approach, her research progresses towards the development of disc-on-a-chip for the modelling of patient-specific pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration underlying inflammation and nociception. She has received multiple prestigious awards, including the Emerging Investigator Award for Health from the Health Research Board, Ireland, the Outstanding Anatomist Award (Research) by the Malaysian Anatomical Association, the Julia Polak European Doctorate Award from the European Society for Biomaterials and the First Prize Young Researcher Award from AO Spine.

Research Interests

Intervertebral disc, Pain, Biomaterials, Stem Cells, Organ-on-a-chip

Research Projects

	Project	Start Date	End Date
	Disc-on-a-chip for the modelling of patient-specific pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration underlying inflammatory pain	17-APR-23	31-MAR-27

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Discogenic Low Back Pain: Anatomy, Pathophysiology and Treatments of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration' I. L. Mohd Isa, Seong Lin Teoh, Nurul Huda Mohd Nor, Sabarul Afian Mokhtar (2023) 'Discogenic Low Back Pain: Anatomy, Pathophysiology and Treatments of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration'. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences, [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'Hyaluronic acid-based bioconjugate systems, scaffolds and their therapeutic potential' N. G. Kotla, I. L. Mohd Isa, Aitor Larrañaga, Balaji Maddiboyina, Samantha K. Swamy, Gandhi Sivaraman, Praveen K. Vemula (2023) 'Hyaluronic acid-based bioconjugate systems, scaffolds and their therapeutic potential'. Advanced Healthcare Materials, [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'Three-dimensional Hydrogel with Human Wharton Jelly-1 derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Towards Nucleus Pulposus Niche' I. L. Mohd Isa, I. Zulkiflee, R. H. Ogaili, N. H. Mohd Yusoff, N. N. Sahruddin, S. R. Sapri, E. S. Mohd Ramli, M. B. Fauzi, S. A. Mokhtar (2023) 'Three-dimensional Hydrogel with Human Wharton Jelly-1 derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Towards Nucleus Pulposus Niche'. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Intervertebral Disc Degeneration - Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Strategies Toward Precision Medicine' I. L. Mohd Isa, S. A. Mokhtar, S. A. Abbah, M. B. Fauzi, A. Devitt, A. Pandit (2022) 'Intervertebral Disc Degeneration - Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Strategies Toward Precision Medicine'. Advanced Healthcare Materials, [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'The Effect of Nanoparticle-Incorporated Natural-Based Biomaterials towards Cells on Activated Pathways: A Systematic Review' N. I. Md Fadilah, I. L. Mohd Isa, W. S. Wan Kamarul Zaman, Y. Tabata, M. B. Fauzi (2022) 'The Effect of Nanoparticle-Incorporated Natural-Based Biomaterials towards Cells on Activated Pathways: A Systematic Review'. Polymers, [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'HATMSC Secreted Factors in the Hydrogel as a Potential Treatment for Chronic Wounds¿In Vitro Study' H. Kraskiewicz, P. Hinc, A. Krawczenko, A. Bielawska-Pohl, M. Paprocka, D. Witkowska, I. L. Mohd Isa, A. Pandit and A. Klimczak (2021) 'HATMSC Secreted Factors in the Hydrogel as a Potential Treatment for Chronic Wounds¿In Vitro Study'. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences, [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'The role of altered glycosylation in human nucleus pulposus cells through inflammation and degeneration' K. Joyce, I. L. Mohd Isa, L. Creemers, A. Devitt, A. Pandit (2021) 'The role of altered glycosylation in human nucleus pulposus cells through inflammation and degeneration'. [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Modulation of Gut Barrier Functions in Ulcerative Colitis by Hyaluronic Acid System' Niranjan G. Kotla, I. L. Mohd Isa, S. Rasala, S. Demir, R. Singh, B. V. Baby, S. K. Swamy, P. Dockery, V. R. Jala, Y. Rochev, and A. Pandit (2021) 'Modulation of Gut Barrier Functions in Ulcerative Colitis by Hyaluronic Acid System'. Advanced Science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'An injectable hyaluronic acid hydrogel promotes intervertebral disc repair in a rabbit model' M. Inoue, I. L. Mohd Isa, S. Orita, M. Suzuki, K. Inage, Y. Shiga, M. Norimoto, T. Umimura, T. Sakai, Y. Eguchi, A. Watanabe, Y. Aoki, A. Pandit, S. Ohtori. (2021) 'An injectable hyaluronic acid hydrogel promotes intervertebral disc repair in a rabbit model'. Spine, [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'Temporal changes guided by mesenchymal stem cells on a 3D microgel platform enhances angiogenesis in vivo at a low-cell dose' D. Thomas, G. Marsico, I. L. Mohd Isa, A. Thirumaran, X. Chen, B. I. Lukasz, G. Fontana, B. J. Rodriguez, M. Marchetti-Deschmann, T. O¿Brien, A. Pandit (2020) 'Temporal changes guided by mesenchymal stem cells on a 3D microgel platform enhances angiogenesis in vivo at a low-cell dose'. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Development and characterization of an immunomodulatory and injectable system composed of collagen modified with trifunctional oligourethanes and silica' P. U. Muñoz-González, P. Rooney, I. L. Mohd Isa, A. Pandit, J. Delgado, M. Flores-Moreno, L. E. Castellano and B. Mendoza-Novelo (2019) 'Development and characterization of an immunomodulatory and injectable system composed of collagen modified with trifunctional oligourethanes and silica'. Biomaterials Science, [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Tissue Engineering ¿ Biomaterials for Disc Repair' I. L. Mohd Isa, B. Gunay, K. Joyce, A. Pandit (2018) 'Tissue Engineering ¿ Biomaterials for Disc Repair'. [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Implantation of hyaluronic acid hydrogel prevents the pain phenotype in a rat model with intervertebral disc injury' I. L. Mohd Isa, S. A. Abbah, M. Kilcoyne, D. Sakai, P. Dockery, D. P. Finn, A. Pandit (2018) 'Implantation of hyaluronic acid hydrogel prevents the pain phenotype in a rat model with intervertebral disc injury'. Science Advances, [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Antioxidant functionalized polymer capsules to prevent oxidative stress' A. Larrañaga, I. L. Mohd Isa, V. Patil, S. Thamboo, M. Lomora, M. A. Fernández-Yague, J. Sarasua, C. G. Palivan, A. Pandit (2017) 'Antioxidant functionalized polymer capsules to prevent oxidative stress'. Acta Biomaterialia, [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Bioengineered three-dimensional diseased intervertebral disc model revealing inflammatory crosstalk' A. Srivastava, I. L. Mohd Isa, P. Rooney, A. Pandit (2017) 'Bioengineered three-dimensional diseased intervertebral disc model revealing inflammatory crosstalk'. Biomaterials, [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Hyaluronic acid based hydrogels attenuate inflammatory receptors and neurotrophins in interleukin-1ß induced inflammation model of nucleus pulposus cells' I. L. Mohd Isa, A. Srivastava, D. Tiernan, P. Owens, P. Rooney, P. Dockery and A. Pandit (2015) 'Hyaluronic acid based hydrogels attenuate inflammatory receptors and neurotrophins in interleukin-1ß induced inflammation model of nucleus pulposus cells'. Biomacromolecules, [DOI] [Details]

Honours and Awards

Year	Title	Awarding Body
2023	International Innovation Award (Silver Medal)	Malaysian Technology Expo
2023	Outstanding Anatomist (Research), Early Career Category	Malaysian Anatomical Association
2022	Emerging Investigator Award for Health	Health Research Board, Ireland
2022	Education Grantee	Orthoregeneration Network (ON) Foundation
2022	Open Education Grantee	Orthoregeneration Network (ON) Foundation
2022	International Innovation Award (Gold Medal)	Malaysian Technology Expo
2019	First Place, European Young Researcher Awar	AOSpine (Switzerland)
2018	Julia Polak European Doctorate Award	European Society for Biomaterials

Professional Associations

Association	Function	From / To
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society	Member	/
Malaysia Anatomical Association	Life Member	/
Orthopaedic Research Society	Member	/
International Association for the Study of Pain	Member	/
AOSpine	Member	/