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July 19, 2014

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".

July 19, 2014

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.

July 3, 2014

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.