Austyn Matheson received a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University (Canada) and an MSc of Bioengineering from Trinity College Dublin, completing her MSc thesis with the Tissue Engineering Research Group (TERG) at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Dr Matheson then held leadership roles in industry at Xagenic Inc. (Toronto, Canada), a medical device start-up developing an in vitro point-of-care molecular diagnostic. Austyn gained significant experience in the research, development, and manufacturing of diagnostic devices. Dr Matheson subsequently completed a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary (Canada) in 2020, during which Austyn initiated a collaborative project on bio-lubricating of cartilage biomaterials with the TERG at RCSI. After her Ph.D., she joined TERG as a postdoctoral researcher in 2021, where she is now the recipient of an ADMIRE Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship under the guidance of Professor Fergal O'Brien.

Dr Matheson's research focuses on developing biomechanically-inspired and gene-activated biomaterials for musculoskeletal tissue engineering applications. Her fellowship objectives aim to investigate how the physical properties (bio-lubrication) of a cartilage biomaterial and the therapeutic factors it delivers (non-viral genetic cargoes) determine the regenerative capabilities of the implant. The outputs from her project, combined with Professor Fergal O'Brien's novel 3D printed multi-layered osteochondral scaffolds (Advanced ERC Grant: Recap), intend to develop the next generation of implants targeting the clinical problem of large cartilage defects.