Cell therapy

Cell Therapy

In the Cell Therapy lab, we are developing cell therapies for several chronic diseases. We work on the entire bed-to-bedside spectrum, meaning that we perform basic discovery-oriented research on cell identity and fate, but also like to translate our successful findings by testing them in pre-clinical studies. When those results are successful, we continue by bringing the therapies into first-in-human studies.

We have expertise in:

• Stem cell differentiation. Small soluble molecules, biomaterials, and other approaches are used to direct multipotent and pluripotent stem cells into functioning adult cells.
• Three-dimensional tissues. Borrowing principles from developmental biology, we study how cell–cell contact and self-organization can be manipulated to build functional mini-tissues and organoids.
• Single cell information. Three-dimensional aggregates of cells may best mimic the tissues of the body, but getting information from them is very challenging due to their heterogeneity. We use single cell techniques to understand this complexity and use it for directing cell fate.
• Methodology. We use advanced light and electron microscopy to gain high quality single cell information, and we develop methods to work in 3D cell cultures, which are better mimics of the in vivo situation.

Although we're a "tissue-agnostic" group that organizes around research questions and methodology, our greatest focus is on the anterior segment of the eye (corneal epithelium and endothelium, sclera, conjunctiva). We also collaborate on ongoing research and development on therapies for the kidney, pancreas, and bone.