Jay Samal obtained his bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, India and his master's degree in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering from Tampere University, Finland, with a major in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. He joined the Instructive Biomaterial Engineering department of MERLN Institute in April 2020 to pursue his PhD, as part of the Materials-Driven Regeneration programme.

His research interests include manipulation of stem cell fate by applying microtechnology/microfluidic tools. At MERLN, he will be working on re-engineering kidney organoids with an aim to improving the function of current kidney models. Recapitulating kidney function in vitro can allow for the development of improved physiologically relevant models for further application to study drug testing, development processes and eventually for fabrication of constructs for regenerative medicine.