Former SCERG members take part at the Graduation Day of IST
Recently-graduated alumni of IST gathered last Saturday, the 12th of January, at Aula Magna for the 10th Graduation Day cerimony, where they received their course diplomas. Former PhD student Raquel Cunha and former MSc students Ana Sofia Borges, Joaquim Godinho and Rodrigo Pedroso, who developed their theses at SCERG, were present at this cerimony. Click the title for photos.
Call for "la Caixa" Doctoral INPhINIT Fellowships Programme
Applications for the 2019 edition of the INPhINIT PhD Program, sponsored by the "la Caixa" Foundation, are now open in 2 formats: INCOMING, until February 6, 2019; and RETAINING until February 27, 2019. It aims to attract young researchers of any nationality who wish to develop their doctoral thesis in Spanish and Portuguese territory. Click here for more info.
Francisco Moreira Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering
Francisco Moreira has just defended his PhD thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal) at Instituto Superior Técnico, wednesday the 12th December 2018 (14:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Joaquim Cabral and Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB, Francisco focused on the establishment of a scalable three-dimensional dynamic culture for the expansion of adipose tissue-derived MSC under xeno-free conditions. The title of his thesis is "Scalable Platform for the Expansion of Human Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells Under Dynamic Conditions”.
Marta Carvalho Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering
Marta Monteiro Silva Carvalho will be defending her PhD thesis in Bioengineering (Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine) at Instituto Superior Técnico, tuesday the 4th December 2018 (14:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB and Deepak Vashisth from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Marta focused on the development of biomimetic 3-D matrices for stem cell mediated bone formation, with a particular interest on evaluating the influence of non-collagenous proteins present in the bone matrix. The title of her thesis is "Stem Cell-mediated bone formation on biomimetic 3-D matrices”.
Raquel Cunha Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal)
Raquel Medina dos Santos Cunha will be defending her PhD thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal) at Instituto Superior Técnico, tuesday the 20th November 2018 (10:30 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB, Jeffrey Karp from Harvard Medical School and António Fiarresga from Hospital de Santa Marta, Raquel worked on the development of platforms for the production and characterisation of clinical grade stem cell-based therapies with enhanced regenerative potential. The title of her thesis is "Towards the development of potency assays and 3D inflammation models to evaluate the regenerative potential of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell (MSC) and MSC-derived products”.
Expansion and Harvesting Of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells on Dissolvable Microcarriers
Development of efficient bioprocesses for human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) is critical for their medical and biotechnological applications. Scalable expansion of hiPSC is often performed using polystyrene microcarriers, which have to be removed using a time-consuming separation step. At the Stem Cell Engineering Research Group, novel xeno-free dissolvable microcarriers were applied for the first time for the integrated expansion and harvesting of hiPSC. After expansion, microcarriers were dissolved inside the bioreactor, allowing the recovery of more than 90% of the cells, which represents a significantly higher cell yield when compared with microcarrier filtration (45%). These results represent a major improvement for the downstream processing of hiPSC. Find more on the paper on Biotechnology Journal.
Diogo Pinto Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal)
Diogo Pinto will be defending his PhD thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal) at Instituto Superior Técnico, thursday the 15th November 2018 (10:30 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB and António Fiarresga from Hospital de Santa Marta, Diogo worked on the development of a mesenchymal stem/stromal cells product derived from the umbilical cord matrix with enhanced therapeutic features for myocardial regeneration. The title of his thesis is "Towards the Development of a Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell Product with Enhanced Therapeutic Features for Myocardial Infarction”.
Teresa Silva Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering (Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine)
Teresa Silva will be defending his PhD thesis in Bioengineering (Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine) at Instituto Superior Técnico, wednesday the 26th October 2018 (15:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Carmo Fonseca from IMM and Tiago Fernandes and Evguenia Bekman from SCERG-iBB, Teresa worked on the development of new models to study neurodegenerative diseases such as ataxias that are caused by dysfunction of the cerebellum. The title of her thesis is "Novel bioengineering strategies for modeling cerebellar ataxias”.
Diogo Silva Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering (Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine)
Diogo Silva will be defending his PhD thesis in Bioengineering (Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine) at Instituto Superior Técnico, wednesday the 17th October 2018 (9:00 H, room 4.41). During the last years, and under the supervision of Joaquim Cabral from SCERG-iBB and Manuel Abecasis from IPO, Diogo developed new Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) for various types of hematologic cancers and optimized existing CARs that are already in the clinic. The title of his thesis is "Engineering of T-Cells with Chimeric Antigen Receptors as a Therapy for Hematologic Cancers”.
Miriam Sousa Defends PhD Thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences
Miriam Sousa will be defending her PhD thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico, wednesday the 19th October 2018 (14:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Frederico Ferreira from SCERG-iBB, Miriam developed nanofiber scaffolds for the cultivation of neural stem cells. The title of her thesis is "Ex-Vivo Culture of Neural Stem Cells in Nanofiber Scaffolds: Cellular Organization and Dynamic Systems”.
Bioreactors for Stem Cell Expansion and Differentiation
The book "Bioreactors for Stem Cell Expansion and Differentiation", edited by Joaquim Cabral and Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB has just been released by CRC Press. In the book, an international team of investigators presents thought-provoking reviews of bioreactors for stem cell expansion and differentiation and provides cutting-edge information on different bioreactor systems. The authors offer novel insights into bioreactor-based culture systems specific for tissue engineering, including sophisticated and cost-effective manufacturing strategies geared to overcome technological shortcomings that currently preclude advances towards product commercialization.
Rapid Formation of Mineralized Bone Tissue Based on Stem Cell-mediated Osteogenesis
Bone regeneration, following fracture, relies on autologous and allogenic bone grafts. However, majority of fracture population consists of older individuals with poor quality bone associated with loss and/or modification of matrix proteins critical for bone formation and mineralization. Allografts sufer from same limitations and carry the risk of delayed healing, infection, immune rejection and eventual fracture. Researchers from SCERG-iBB, working in collaboration with colleagues from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US, have applied a synergistic biomimetic strategy to develop matrices that rapidly form bone tissue. Collagen matrices, enhanced with osteocalcin and/or osteopontin, increased the rate and quantity of synthesized bone matrix by increasing mesenchymal stem/stromal (MSC) cell proliferation, accelerating osteogenic diferentiation and enhancing angiogenesis The work was published in Scientific Reports.
Towards multi-organoid systems for drug screening applications
A low percentage of novel drug candidates succeed and reach the end of the drug discovery pipeline. Emerging technologies involving the production of organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and the use of organ-on-a-chip devices are showing great promise for developing a more reliable, rapid, and cost-effective drug discovery process. A review by a group of researchers from SCERG, published in Bioengineering, addresses the current progress and challenges related to the process of obtaining organoids from hPSCs, as well as ways to create devices that will allow a precise examination of the in vitro effects generated by drug candidates in different organ systems. This review has been selected as the cover story for the September 2018 issue of Bioengineering.
"Tissue by Design" by Ioannis Papantoniou
Ioannis Papantoniou will be giving a talk entitled "Tissue by Design: Bioprocess-pipelines for the production of clinically relevant skeletal living implants", Wednesday the 12th september at 11:00 h in room 1.38 of the IST Tagus Park campus. In his talk, Ioannis will provide an overview of the strategy that his group is developing in order to tackle major challenges in Tissue Engineering, including the ability to control complexity within 3D engineered constructs, diffusion limitations and the lack of control of the environment. Ioannis is a Chemical Engineer by training (U Patras, Greece) and holds a PhD from University College London. He is currently ATMP Research coordinator, within Prometheus - the KU Leuven division of skeletal tissue Engineering.
Expansion of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors
The successful use of Human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSC) for disease modelling, drug discovery and, ultimately, for regenerative therapies depends on the development of robust bioprocesses capable of generating large numbers of hiPSC and derivatives. SCERG-iBB researchers developed a bioprocess for the scalable generation of hiPSC in a microcarrier-based system using, for the first time, single-use Vertical-Wheel bioreactors. hiPSC culture was performed in working volumes up to 300 mL, maintaining the pluripotency and genomic integrity of the cells, providing an important tool for the successful manufacturing of hiPSC-based products. The work was published in the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology.
Project for Manufacturing of Therapeutic Exosomes is Recommended for Funding by FCT
The project "EXOpro: Development of a scalable manufacturing process for therapeutic human mesenchymal stem/stromal cell-derived exosomes" has been recommended for funding by FCT. The goal of EXOpro is to develop a fully controlled manufacturing process for the production and purification of an effective, safe and fully characterized MSC-derived exosome-based product. Overall, the success of this project is expected to contribute to the development of novel cell-free strategies for Regenerative Medicine settings. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Chemical Engineering, is headed by Ana Fernandes from SCERG-iBB and Ana Azevedo from BERG-iBB and involves a collaboration with the University of São Paulo.
Seminar on Biomaterial Systems for Engineering New Vascular Networks by Eduardo Silva
Eduardo Silva will be giving a seminar entitled "Biomaterial Systems for Engineering New Vascular Networks", Tuesday the 26th June at 11h in room 1.38, Taguspark. Eduardo Silva is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the University California, Davis. He received his degree in Metallurgical and Materials Science Engineering from University of Porto, and he holds a Ph.D. in Biomedicine from the Gulbenkian PhD Programme, with work performed at Harvard University. His research long-term goal is to engineer novel polymer based vehicles for controlled delivery of cells, drugs and/or genes in the context of vascularizing ischemic tissues.
Project for Scale-up of Cardiomyocyte Production is Recommended for Funding by FCT
The project "CardioWheel: Upscaling the Production of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Cardiomyocytes using Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors" has been recommended for funding by FCT (2017 Call for SR&TD Project Grants). The goal of CardioWheel is the application of bioreactor technology for human Pluripotent Stem Cell expansion and cardiomyocyte differentiation in a single process, culturing cells in suspension in the novel single-use Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors. These bioreactors will be characterized using computational fluid dynamics and this knowledge will be used to scale up the culture. The generated cells will be tested for functional and pharmacological activity to demonstrate their applicability in drug discovery and regenerative medicine. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Chemical Engineering, is headed by Carlos Rodrigues and Joaquim Cabral from SCERG-iBB.
Project for Engineeering of Mini-Hearts is Recommended for Funding by FCT
The project "Mini-Hearts: Organoid Engineering for Production of 3D Cardiovascular Microtissues from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cardiotoxicity" has been recommended for funding by FCT (2017 Call for SR&TD Project Grants). The goal of "Mini-Hearts is to develop an innovative model of cardiovascular tissue from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) for drug screening, toxicology assays, disease modeling and potentially for Regenerative Medicine applications. The work will explore the new paradigm of organoid engineering by targeting the simultaneous differentiation of hiPSCs into all the cell types of the human myocardium. This will potentially allow the reproduction of the heterogeneity, complexity, maturity and functionality of cardiovascular tissue. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Medical Engineering, is headed by Margarida Diogo from SCERG-iBB.
Neural Induction of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Neurodevelopmental Toxicity Studies
The ability to differentiate neural progenitors (NP) from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provides an opportunity to develop new applications for cellular therapy, disease modelling and drug screening. SCERG-iBB researchers developed a platform that can be applied towards the study of the effect of neurotoxic molecules that impair normal embryonic development, such as the antiepileptic drug valproic acid (VPA). It was verified that exposure to VPA led to a prevalence of NP structures over neuronal differentiation, confirmed by analysis of the expression of neural cell adhesion molecule, and neural rosette number and morphology. This methodology can potentially complement current toxicity tests for the detection of teratogenic compounds that can interfere with normal embryonic development. The work was published in Toxicology Letters.
Cerebellar ataxias are characterized by progressive neurodegeneration of the cerebellum. Current knowledge about the disease is based on postmortem studies and animal models that do not fully recapitulate the features of human ataxias. The development of disease models is thus an important unmet medical need. The goal of the project "CEREBEX", which has recently been approved for funding by PORLisboa, is to generate 3D cultures of mature cerebellar neurons to investigate ataxia mechanisms and therapeutic strategies. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Medical Biotechnology, is headed by Joaquim Cabral from SCERG-iBB and involves the collaboration with the Institute for Molecular Medicine. The proposal "CEREBEX - Generation of gene-edited cerebellar organoids for ataxia research" was submitted in the context of the 2017 Call for SR&TD Project Grants.
Structural Maturation of Human Cardiomyocytes Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs) have an enormous potential for in vitro modeling of cardiac diseases and for testing the effect and toxicity of new drugs. However, when compared to adult CMs, hiPSC-CMs are very immature, exhibiting low structural development and functionality. SCERG-iBB researchers developed a novel methodological framework to quantify structural aspects of hiPSC-CMs during long-term culture. hiPSC-CMs showed significant progression in several structural characteristics namely cardiomyocyte fiber density and length. Importantly, this methodology contributes to set new metrics to develop applications for drug screening and disease modeling for hiPSC-CMs. The research has been published on Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
Márcia Mata Defends PhD Thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences
Márcia Andreia Faria da Mata has defended her Ph D thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico on the 9th May 2018. During the last years, and under the supervision of Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-iBB and Prof. Marco Costa from Case Western Reserve University, Márcia has investigated how stem cell engineering can contribute to the development of angiogenic cell therapies for the management of ischemia. The title of her thesis is "Stem Cell Engineering Approaches Towards Angiogenic Cell Therapy for Ischemic Diseases”.
Tânia Baltazar Wins Wake Forest Institue for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award
Tânia Baltazar, PhD student in Bioengineering - Cell Therapies and Regeneratice Medicine, was awarded the Wake Forest Institue for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award. This prize is granted for extraordinary developments by members of this society in initial phases of a carrer in the area of Regenerative Medicine.
Inauguration of the Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine
The Discoveries Centre, an european research Center led by Universidade do Minho, was offically opened today. The center will focus on Regenerative and Precision Medicine and will work on innovative therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson.
Marta Costa Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering
Marta Costa will be defending her Ph D thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal program) at Instituto Superior Técnico, friday the 24th may 2017 (11:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Frederico Ferreira and Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-IBB, and from Todd McDevitt from the USA, Cláudia focused her efforts on the manipulation of the microenvironment of MSCs. The title of Marta's thesis is “Engineering the microenvironment of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (MSC) to tune their trophic activity”.
Gonçalo Rodrigues Defends PhD Thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences
Gonçalo Rodrigues will be defending his Ph D thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico, thursday the 11th may 2017 (10:30 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Joaquim Cabral and Margarida Diogo from SCERG-iBB and David V. Schaffer from the University of California, Gonçalo focused his efforts on the study of neural differentiation for cell therapy applications. The title of Gonçalo's thesis is “Defined and Scalable Systems for Neural Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells”.
This past week PhD Open Days 2017 took place at IST and SCERG was represented by several students.
António Soure Defends PhD Thesis in Bioengineering
António Soure will be defending his Ph D thesis in Bioengineering (MIT Portugal program) at Instituto Superior Técnico, friday the 17th march 2017 (11:00 H, room PA3). During the last years, and under the supervision of Joaquim Cabral and Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCERG-IBB, António focused his efforts on the study of the manufacturing of MSC for cell therapy applications. The title of António's thesis is “Scalable Manufacturing of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells for Cell Therapies and the Role of the Notch Signaling Pathway in the Human Hematopoietic Systems”.
SCERG launches new image, website and social media
The creation of the SCERG is marked by the new website, logo and social media.
SCERG participates in the “The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine”
SCERG participates in the “The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine” (The Discoveries Centre), a multi-campi Centre of Excellence new recently approved, by the European Commission with a EC budget of 15 millions of Euros for seven years.
SCERG participates in the project “PRECISE – Accelerating progress toward the new era of Precision Medicine”, recently approved, with a budget of 2.5 millions of Euros from “Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa” and “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia”. This project started in December 2016 for three years.
Umbilical cord matrix (UCM)-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) are promising therapeutic candidates for Regenerative Medicine settings. However, given the high cell doses required for clinical applications, the large-scale manufacturing of UCM MSC complying with good manufacturing practices is mandatory. In a study published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, a group of researchers from BERG-iBB reported the establishment of an integrated culture platform based on a human platelet lysate supplement for the effective isolation and expansion of UCM MSC, using a xenogeneic-free microcarrier-based system featuring easy scalability. This represents an important advance in obtaining safer and clinically meaningful MSC numbers for clinical translation.
Joaquim Cabral Gives Seminar at the Distinguished Seminar Series of Imperial College
The Director of iBB and Principal Investigator of SCBL, Professor Joaquim Cabral, will be giving a seminar entitled "Bioprocess Engineering Strategies for Stem Cell-based Therapies and Regenerative Medicine" at the Distinguished Seminar Series of Imperial College London. The Series, which is organised by the Department of Chemical Engineering, is aimed at exploring the views from distinguished academics from around the world in shaping the future of Chemical Engineering, the profession and its research agenda. The talk will be delivered at 9:30 on Monday 27th (Roderic Hill Building, room C616).
Sara Rosa Attends Bayer PhD Course 2016
Sara Rosa, a PhD student from SCBL and BERG-iBB attended the Bayer PhD course 2016 in Germany from the 7th to the 10th March. During this week, PhD students with Mechanical, Electronic Engineering and Biotechnology backgrounds and from diverse parts of Europe, EUA and India had the opportunity to know more about Bayer’s modus operandi, mission and values. The students worked as teams and discussed their PhD projects, visited the Leverkusen and Wüppertal site plants, met people working in the various company segments from Technology Development, Process Control Technologies to Supply Chain and got to know a bit of the story and the beauties of the main city Köln. About Bayer: Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science Fields of health care and agriculture.
Joaquim Cabral to Present Keynote Lecture at the 20th Annual Regenerative Medicine Workshop
The Director of iBB, Professor Joaquim Cabral, has been invited to deliver a keynote lecture entitled "Bioengineering Strategies for Stem Cell-based Therapies and Regenerative Medicine" at the 20th annual Regenerative Medicine Workshop. This prestigious meeting, which has a powerhouse line-up of speakers in a breadth of topics in the regenerative medicine field, will be held on March 16-19, 2016 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in Harbour Town.
Tiago Fernandes selected for 2016 Regenerative Medicine Workshop Young Investigator Postdoctoral Award
The work entitled, “Factorial Analysis of Signaling Pathways Involved in Pluripotency and Lineage Specification Reveals a Dominant Effect of Wnt Signaling in Mesendoderm Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells,” by Tiago Fernandes from BERG-iBB and coworkers has been selected for the inaugural 2016 Regenerative Medicine Workshop Young Investigator Postdoctoral Award, which will take place at the Harbour Town Clubhouse & Conference Center, SC, USA. As the awardee, Tiago Fernandes will be given a featured presentation at the workshop, on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
Gelatin Scaffolds for Skin Tissue Engineering
Gelatin’s excellent foaming ability allows the application of in situ gas foaming as a preparation technique for porous scaffold development. Ina recent publication in the International Journal of Polymeric Materials and Polymeric Biomaterials, a team of researchers from BERG-iBB, and from The University of Northampton, report on a new iterative experimental design for the preparation of gellatin scafolds by an in situ gas foaming method . The prepared scaffolds were studied for applying the findings to the future skin tissue engineering scaffolds. The thermal stability, mechanical properties, and pore structure of the scaffolds are reported and their degradation resistance by using collagenase enzyme and their cytotoxicity by using fibroblasts were studied. The results of this study demonstrated that gas foaming method can be modified to produce an interconnected porous structure with enhanced mechanical properties.
Intracoronary Delivery of Human Mesenchymal/Stromal Stem Cells
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells have unique properties favorable to their use in clinical practice and have been studied for cardiac repair. However, these cells are larger than coronary microvessels and there is controversy about the risk of embolization and microinfarctions, which could jeopardize the safety and efficacy of intracoronary route for their delivery. The index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) is an invasive method for quantitatively assessing the coronary microcirculation status. In a recent publication in PlosOne, BERG-iBB researchers in collaboration with colleagues from the Department of Cardiology at Hospital de Santa Marta and from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at University of Lisbon have examined heart microcirculation in a swine model after intracoronary injection of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells with the index of microcirculatory resistance. Overall, the study provides definitive evidence of microcirculatory disruption upon intracoronary administration of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells, in a large animal model closely resembling human cardiac physiology, function and anatomy.
Production of Platelets and Their Progenitors From Umbilical Cord Blood
Platelet transfusion can be a life-saving procedure in different medical settings, but shelf-life of this plod product is only 5 days. The efficient ex vivobiomanufacturing of platelets would make it possible toovercome the shortages of donated platelets. The optimized protocol described by BERG researchers in a recent paper published in the journal Cythotherapy allows the efficient production of platelets and their progenitors from blood stem/progenitor cells by mimicking the bone marrow niche through a co-culture system with human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), in combination with different biological factors to prompt differentiation toward functional platelets.
Control of Aggregation Directs Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Towards Neural Commitment
In a recent publication in Biotechnology Journal researchers from the Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory (SCBL) describe a novel methodology capable of providing patient-specific neural cells under defined conditions using vitronectin and dual SMAD inhibition. The authors show how pluripotent stem cells can be used to generate patient-specific neural cells that could be used to gain a better understanding of disease mechanisms. This ability to recapitulate the development of the human nervous system in vitro could provide important insights on the mechanisms involved in the maturation of specific neural cell types, making this approach transversal to other related areas in neurodevelopmental research.
Seminar on Bioengineered Organs by Professor Pedro Baptista
Professor Pedro Baptista, a specialist in the area of of Regenerative Medicine will be giving a talk entitled "How to make a liver and other organs for Dummies" Friday the 19th June, at 11h00m, in Room QA1.2, IST (Alameda). Pedro Baptista is currently a Group Leader at the Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS) in Zaragoza, Spain and the founder of the Organ Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the Aragon Biomedical Research Institute, Zaragoza, Spain. The focus of his work is on intestinal organs bioengineering and cellular therapies directed to liver, pancreas and kidney regeneration. He will be hosted by Prof. Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCBL and BERG-iBB.
Seminar on "Stem Cell Niches" by Professor Graça Almeida-Porada
Professor Graca Almeida-Porada, a renowed specialist in the area of Regenerative Medicine will be giving a talk entitled "Cell Therapies: Manipulating Stem Cell Niches" next Thursday the 18th June, at 11h00m, in Room 1.38, IST (Tagus Park). Prof. Almeida-Porada is currently affiliated with the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She will be hosted by Prof. Cláudia Lobato Silva from SCBL and BERG-iBB with whom she has been collaborating over the past years.
Control of Aggregation Directs Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Towards Neural Commitment
3D suspension culture is generally considered a promising method to achieve efficient expansion and controlled differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). In a recent publication in Biotechnology Journal, researchers from the Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory (SCBL) led by Margarida Diogo describe the development of an integrated culture platform for expansion and neural commitment of hPSCs into neural precursors using 3D suspension conditions and chemically-defined culture media. The results obtained in the study constitute an important contribution to the definition of a robust method for production of hPSC-derived neural precursors that minimizes processing steps and has high potential for scale-up.
Joaquim Cabral Receives "IST Distinguished Professor" Award
The Director of iBB and principal investigator of SCBL, Professor Joaquim Cabral, received the "IST Distinguished Professor" award from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) for his exceptional contributions to the advanced training and scientific leadership of IST in the areas of Bioengineering, Stem Cell Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. The award was presented on Friday the 22 nd May during the celebration of “Dia do Técnico” by the President of IST, Professor Arlindo Oliveira.
Seminar on Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Dr Fernando Anjos-Afonso
Dr. Fernando Anjos-Afonso of the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute at Cardiff School of Biosciences, will be giving a talk entitled "Notching up Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells to control their cell fate decisions and expansion" Friday the 8th May, at 11h00m, in Room 1.38, IST (TagusPark). Dr. Anjos-Afonso was awarded the Jane Hodge Research Fellowship at the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute in 2015, to investigate different cell-to-cell communication signalling pathways that control human haematopoietic stem cell activity and to determine how these pathways are exploited or avoided by certain leukaemias.
Tiago Dias selected for the Malcom Lilly award
Tiago Dias, Ph. D. student in Biotechnology, has been shortlisted to present an oral lecture in the Malcolm Lilly Award session at the ESBES symposium, Lille 7-10th September. This prestigeous award is offered by the ESBES to a promising young scientist working in the field of biochemical engineering to honor Professor Malcolm Lilly, the founding father of Biochemical Engineering, Tiago, one of the 4 candidates selected, will have an opportunity to present the work he has developed at BERG under the supervison of Joaquim Cabral and Margarida Diogo with a communication entitled "Integrated Platform for Derivation and Enrichment of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes: Towards a Clinical Application".
3D Microarray Platform for Toxicology Assays in Neural Development
In collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI/USA), researchers at the Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory have recently developed a 3D microarray platform to perform high-throughput studies of human Neural Stem Cell (hNSC) Differentiation and Toxicology. By using this platform it is possible to screen for the differential toxicity of small molecules to hNSCs which may help to predict, in vitro, which compounds pose an increased threat to neural development and should therefore be prioritized for further screening and evaluation. The work was published in “Stem Cell Research” journal.
SCBL researchers develop bioreactor system for mesenchymal stem cell expansion
In a recent paper published on Biotechnology and Bioengineering, researchers from SCBL, in collaboration with Louisiana State University and Life Technology Corporation, describe the successfull establishment of a xenogeneic-free microcarrier-based culture system for bone marrow mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) and adipose tissue-derived stem/stromal cell (ASC) cultivation. The process, which was developed using a 1L-scale controlled stirred-tank bioreactor, is aimed at generating the large amounts of cells required for MSC-based clinical trials.
World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions "Summer Davos"
Cláudia Lobato da Silva was nominated as an outstanding young scientist by the InterAcademy Panel/World Economic Forum to participate in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions "Summer Davos" (Dalian, China).
“Jovens Investigadores UTL/Deloitte 2009” Award (Young Researcher Award)
Cláudia Lobato da Silva was distinguished with the Jovens Investigadores UTL/Deloitte 2009 Award in the scientific domains of Biological Engineering, Biochemistry and Biotechnology sponsored by the Technical University of Lisboa and Deloitte.
UTL/Santander Totta Scientific Award 2008
Professor Joaquim M. Sampaio Cabral wins "Prémio Científico UTL/Santander Totta 2008" in Biological Engineering, Biochemistry and Biotecnology. The award is the recognition of the scientific work and career and is sponsored by Santander Totta bank.
First Annual FLAD Educational Innovation Awards 2008
Cláudia Lobato da Silva (assistant professor at IST) was distinguished with the First Annual FLAD Educational Innovation Award. This award from the Luso-American Foundation based in Lisbon recognizes the extraordinary efforts of Portuguese faculty members in the MIT-Portugal Program to create educational programs at the highest standards of excellence.
National Television segment on Leukemia
Professor Joaquim Cabral participated on a national television program on leukemia. This program focused on the disease, its impact on society and patitens and on the latest therapies available. Within this last focus Porfessor Cabral elaborated on the participation of the Stem Cell Bioengineering Lab in the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Project on clinical application of this cells in leukemia patients.
TV segment on Innovation - Geração HighTech
Cable TV channel AXN program Geração HighTech. The program focused on the impact of this MIT|Portugal in the academia, both faculty and students, and more generally in the global impact for Portugal. Professor Paulo Ferrão (MIT|Portugal program coordinator) Professor Joaquim Cabral (MIT|Portugal program Bioengineering Systems co-coordinator) and the student David Malta were interviewed.
4th International Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Stem Cells and Cell Therapies (SPCE-TC)
The Stem Cell Bioengineering Laboratory will host the 4th International Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Stem Cells and Cell Therapies (SPCE-TC) to take place at Instituto Superior Técnico from the 28th to the 30th of April 2009.