This Tuesday (6 February), our Cambridge Stem Cell Institute Technology & Innovation Forum (SCI-TIF) and Institute researchers participated in our first SCI-TIF event of 2024, highlighting collaboration between industry and academia.
The event started with an introduction from CSCI Director Bertie Gottgens, then introduced flash talks from three of our SCI-TIF members: Alice Taylor from Qkine, Alistair McKee from Proteintech, and Tuzer Kalkan from bit.bio. These were followed by a targeted networking session, where everyone from PhD students, postdocs, PIs, and industry scientists got together around five tables to discuss the opportunities and challenges of collaborations between industry and academia. Finally, the event concluded with a poster and networking session from some of the Institute’s PhD and Postdocs from the Tzelepis, Philpott, Sinha, and Hodson groups.
Director Bertie Gottgens (top left) gives an overview of SCI-TIF; SCI-TIF members bit.bio, Qkine, and Proteintech present flash talks of their company's work
CSCI Director Bertie Göttgens said of the evening, ‘It was very gratifying to see how everyone engaged; there was literally no evidence of any sort of divide between researchers in academia and industry, with many new connections forged’
This event was a promising start to the collaborations in the year ahead and beyond. Other members in attendance included AstraZeneca, Cytiva, and Sanofi, some of whom sent placement students from their own companies.
Alice Sorrell, CSCI’s new Knowledge Exchange Manager, has been instrumental in bringing new members to the Institute. She says, ‘I am delighted to see the continued development of new productive partnerships between our institute and SCI-TIF members. It was great to see everyone enjoying each other’s company and making new connections wherever they are in their professional journey. We’ll have many more exciting events to come; watch this space!’
The next SCI-TIF event will take place on Monday 18 March and will be a presentation and panel discussion on AI in stem cell and medical research. Find more details here.