Dr. Widera is an associate professor in stem-cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Reading. His lab is mainly interested in adult stem cells and their secretomes, inflammatory signaling cascades in health and disease, and novel methods for clinical-grade 3D cultivation of human (stem) cells. He graduated from biochemistry (Witten/Herdecke University, Germany) and received his PhD in neurobiochemistry from the Witten/Herdecke University in Germany in 2007. From 2013 to 2015, he served as an adjunct professor at the Department of Cell Biology, University of Bielefeld (Germany). In February 2015, he was appointed as a lecturer in stem-cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Reading and was promoted to associate professor in 2019. Since May 2015, he also served as a visiting professor at the Stavropol State Medical University (Russian Federation) and as an external examiner for the MRes programme of stem-cell biology and regenerative medicine at the Newcastle University. He has published over 65 research manuscripts and has presented his research outcomes as invited talks at numerous international conferences in the UK, Germany, the USA, Italy, Finland, San Marino, Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, and China. In addition, he serves as an associate editor for the journals Frontiers in Stem Cell Research and Stem Cells International and acts as an ad hoc peer reviewer for major funding bodies including the BBSRC (UK) and MRC (UK).