Stemcells@lunch Digested

For this episode of SC@L digested, PhD student Ana Maria Cujba interviews Professor Nico De Leu from the University Hospital of Brussels. He talks about the challenges of combing clinical work and lab work, and his research on the role of a growth factor (VGFA) on the function of beta cells which produce insulin in the pancreas, and how the growth factor is involved in vascularisation of beta cell transplants for patients with diabetes...

This week’s episode of SC@L digested is all about the liver! CSCRM’s Public Engagement Officer Jessica Sells talks to Dr Luca Urbani about his work using tissue engineering to replicate functioning livers to study liver diseases and regeneration…. For more information of Dr Urbani's work please follow this link: http://www.liver-research.org.uk/ourstaff/luca-urbani.html

In this special episode of Stem Cells @ Lunch Digested, CSCRM Public Engagement Officer Jessica Sells speaks to the Wellcome Trust "Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine" 4 year PhD programme 2018 cohort about their experience co-writing a review. The review titled: "Mechanisms, Hallmarks, and Implications of Stem Cell Quiescence" was published in Stem Cell Reports, and will be featured in the special June edition of the publication to tie in with the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2019 conference. The interview features Wladislaw Stroukov, Jana Obajdin, Prudence Lui, Thea Willis and Federica Riccio. Unfortunately, fellow cohort member Inchul Cho was unable to attend. Follow this link to read the full publication online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31189093

How do stem cells decide to make copies of themselves or become something different? Does mechanical signalling influence how stem cells make decisions? How is the timing of these irreversible changes happen from a physics perspective? Hear Dr Kevin Chalut from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute discuss his work in this field with PhD student Gabby Clarke. To find out more about his research follow this link: https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/research/pis/chalut

For this episode of SC@L digested, PhD student Inês Tomás interviews Dr Trevor Graham from the Barts Cancer Institute about his career path, fusing mathematics and biology, difficulties in modelling cancer, and the hunt for the cure…. for more information about his research follow this link:https://www.bci.qmul.ac.uk/staff/item/trevor-graham

In the latest episode of SC@L digested, PhD student Sergi Junyent interviews Dr Kate Miroshnikova from the Wikstrom Lab at the University of Helsinki. She talks about how she got into bioengineering, her PhD diagnosing cancer by the biophysical properties of cells, and her current work on how physical forces moderate stem cell differentiation...

In today’s SC@L digested episode, PhD student Steph Hynes interviews Dr Vasanta Subramanian from the University of Bath, who talks about her career path and her work on the role of the protein TALPID3 in the development of cilia and rare diseases called ciliopathies, and how targeting this protein could lead to potential therapies for these conditions.... For more information about her research follow this link: researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/v…-subramanian

In this episode of SC@L digested PhD student Xinyi Du interviews Dr Anatoly Zayats from the London Nanotechnology Centre, who tells us about his interesting and international career path, what nano technology is & where you come across it in every day life, & how to apply it to healthcare and data processing... For more information about his research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/nms/depts/physics/people/academicstaff/zayats

For today’s SC@L digested podcast episode, PhD student Daria Belokhvostova interviews Dr Clarisse Ganier, a post doctoral researcher who recently joined the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine. She talks about her PhD project developing potential therapies for the rare skin disease Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolyis Bullosa (RDEB), also known at butterfly skin, and her also her current work for the Human Cell Atlas project.

We have a special episode of SC@L digested for International Women's Day! Dr Rebecca Barlow, Strategy and Planning Manager at the Medical Research Council came and spoke to Jessica Sells about her career path and about setting up Women’s Networks, what they are and why they are important to have in the workplace.

This week's episode sees Dr Davide Danovi interview Professor Sami Barmada from the University of Michigan about his research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia, and how stripping science back to basics can lead to big discoveries! For more information about his work please follow this link: https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/neurology/sami-barmada-md-phd

Welcome to this week’s episode of stem cells at lunch digested. Today, PhD student Sergi Junyent interviews Dr Guillame Blin about his career history, growing cells on matrixes of various stiffness to see how cells differentiate and why he moved to Edinburgh to pursue his research on how embryos develop and organise their cells For more information about his research follow this link: http://www.crm.ed.ac.uk/people/guillaume-blin

For this episode of SC@L digested, Jessica Sells speaks to Dr Markus Diefenbacher, a Principle Investigator from University of Würzburg. He talks about his career path in genetics, using patient data to model diseases, and the possibility of translating his work into potential treatments.... For more information about his work follow this link:https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/grk2243/people/principal-investigators/markus-diefenbacher/

This Week’s SC@L digested is a little bit different, featuring world renowned bio-artists and tissue engineering Research Fellows Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr. They talk about their fascinating journey of how and why they came into the world of bioart, their experience of working with scientists and learning their techniques, being the first people to grow and eat lab grown meat, and their latest installation for the upcoming Science Gallery London Spare parts season, supported by CSCRM researchers…

For our latest SC@L digested episode, Jessica Sells interviews respiratory Clinician and PhD student Adam Pennycuick about his diverse career path leading to his research into the early detection of lunch cancer, analysing 20 years worth of data from pre cancerous patients, and how outcomes of this research could potentially impact the public in future. He also talks about his most recent paper that just came out in Nature yesterday, follow this link to see it yourself: https://go.nature.com/2FRVi43

In this episode, Jessica Sells interviews KCL Principle Investigator and Lecturer Dr Sandrine Thuret about her international study and career path, investigating topics ranging from cereal coatings to hippocampal neurogenesis and lecturing her favourite subjects. She tells us why it is important to study how the brain makes new neurons, what the hot debate is within the field and whether attitudes towards women in science have changed much over the 12 years she has been running her own lab…. For more information about Dr Thuret's research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/bcn/Our-research/Cells-behaviour/thuret-adult-neurogenesis/about.aspx

This week’s episode sees PhD student Alice Vickers interview Dr Siim Pauklin from the Botnar Research Centre at Oxford University. He talks about about his research investigating cancer stem cells which can give rise to tumors, the importance of understanding them and their function and whether these cells are a potential target for cancer treatments.... For more information about Dr Pauklin's work follow this link: https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/team/siim-pauklin

In today’s podcast episode, CSCRM Public Engagement Officer Jessica Sells interviews Dr Chris Lorenz, Lecturer and Principle Investigator in the KCL Biological Physics & Soft Matter Group. He tells about his career path, his role using computer simulations to understand properties of materials, what hydrogels are and how they can be used in combination with stem cells….

This week's episode sees CSCRM PhD student Geraldine Jowett interview Professor Maddy Parsons about her roles at King's (including Professor of Cell Biology and Scientific Director of the Nikon Imaging Centre)and her research into how cells stick to their environment and how that is involved in skin blistering diseases and cancer. Geraldine and Maddy also talk about the art of microscopy..... For more information about Professor Parsons see this link: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/madeline-parsons(cccc6360-8192-45ae-b192-0133f7b69299).html

In today’s Stem Cells @ Lunch Digested, CSCRM PhD student Sebastiaan Zijl interviews Dr Eileen Gentleman. Eileen talks about her research combining materials with stem cells to grow 3D tissue to replace damaged or diseased tissues in patients. For more information about Dr Gentleman's work please see this link: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/eileen.gentleman.html