Digby Usher
Profession
Associate Lecturer, MA Biodesign
College
Central Saint Martins
Person Type
Teacher
Biography
Digby Usher is Director and Co‑Founder of Lifefabs Institute: Biofabrication Lab & Research Centre in London, the UK’s first open‑access materials biofabrication wet‑lab and independant research institute. Lifefabs mission is to translate innovations in healthcare, materials, and life sciences into real-world applications, by partnering with universities, graduates, and communities to deliver impactful projects, workshops, collaborative courses, and hands-on independant research.
Since its founding in June 2024, Lifefabs Institute has engaged more than 3,000 participants of all ages, advancing innovation projects and skills in biofabrication working with Camden STEAM, local schools, MIT Media Lab, Great Ormond Street Hospitals and beyond.
As Director, he oversees Lifefabs’ research groups: Engineered Living Materials Lab, Medical Printing Lab, and Living Fabrics Lab, managing the themes and research projects that work invent the future of Biodesign, architecture, materials science and healthcare; while teaching and delivering collaborative courses and research projects with MIT, UCL and at ARUP.
His professional biodesign practice, centres on material design and synthetic biology, from low‑cost prosthetics to engineered fabrics, leading to his role as co-node lead for MIT Media Lab’s European Synthetic Biology programme: How to Grow Almost Anything.
As an Associate Lecturer at University of the Arts London (UAL), he teaches across: MA Biodesign, MA Service Design, MA Innovation Management, BA UX Design & BA Interaction Design delivering units in robotics, prototyping, material development, bioprinting and programmable materials. His past Co-Design Policy work extends across Resources and Waste at DEFRA, working as a researcher at the Public Collaboration Lab at Central Saint Martins with Camden Council, and is currently an Associate Researcher at the Service Futures Lab at London College of Communication.