The Stem Cell Engineering Research Group (SCERG) is a recently created group within the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal, with roots in the former Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory (SCBL-RM).
The SCERG at iBB aims at the development of cell production systems for the ex-vivo expansion of stem cells and/or their controlled differentiation into specific cell types, as well as their integration with bioseparation and high resolution purification technologies, to generate the large numbers of specific and high quality stem/progenitor cell subsets needed for Precision and Regenerative Medicine settings.
SCERG has established an international track record in the Stem Cell Engineering field [1, 2], as assessed by WTEC in US on behalf of NSF, NIST and NIH. The success of stem cell manufacturing relies on safe, robust and reproducible culture conditions and cost-effective processes, including bioreactor design, bioseparation, microscale technology and process control, combined with systems biology. The development of efficient, scalable and cost-effective production processes for Stem Cells is expected to boost their applications in Cellular and Gene Therapy, Tissue Engineering, high-throughput drug screening, toxicological testing and stem cell research.
Human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells, as well as human pluripotent stem cells (both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells) and their neural and cardiac derivatives have been used as model systems.
[1]WTEC-NSF/NIST/NIH International Assessment of R&D in Stem Cell Engineering report, page 240 (2013)