News

In the earliest moments of a mammal’s life, the developing ball of cells formed shortly after fertilisation ‘does as mother says’ – it follows a course that has been pre-programmed in the egg by the mother. Extraordinary as this is, what happens then is even more remarkable.Just before implantation in the uterus, the ball of cells, called a blastoc…

Three key admin roles are currently available at the SCI:Business and Operations ManagerCoordinatorPublic Engagement OfficerFor more information on each of these posts, please visit our Jobs section.

Dr Michaela Frye and Dr Feride Oeztuerk-Winder are using 3D techniques to create accurate in vitro culturing models of human lung. Up until now we've only been able to study the lung and lung cancer in 2D, so the extra understanding of how the lung works in 3D, and what happens when lung cancer is introduced, could have a massive impact on future t…

Congratulations to Ben Simons who has been awarded the 2014 Franklin Medal and Prize!The Institute of Physics has reconised his research for the application of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to provide fundamental new insights into mechanisms that regulate stem cell behaviour in tissue maintenance and disease.

A 4-Year (1+3) PhD Programme opportunity is available, funded by the Medical Research Council: 'The Physical Biology of Stem Cells'.Application Deadline: Wednesday 4th February 2015Interview Date: Wednesday 4th March 2015For full details, visit the Study section.

Check out Austin Smith's interview for the Scientific Council - Stem Cells.  The interview was conducted by Mariana Alves, a summer student from the Silva Lab.To listen to the interview, please here click

Morteza Jalali, a clinical PhD student in the Vallier lab has signed a contract with Elsevier for a book on basic science research methods aimed at students and clinicians who are embarking on laboratory-based science.There is a global move towards recruiting and training future clinician scientists, such that medicine and surgery are equipped to h…

Development journal have published a meeting report of the Institute's 5th Cambridge Stem Cell Symposium on 18th -19th July 2016.Entitled 'Quantitative Stem Cell Biology: from Molecules to Models' the meeting was hosted by Dr Elisa Laurenti, Dr Paul Bertone and Professor Azim Surani and aimed to tackle some of the issues around quantitative data pr…

Dish Life, the final of four Cambridge Shorts films, compares the task of raising stem cells in the lab to the challenge of looking after a gang of unruly kids. In conversation with real-life children, scientists show how tricky it is to work with these ‘super cells’.Loriana Vitillo from CSCI and Karen Jent from the Department of Sociology worked t…

Congratulations to SCI PI Jenny Nichols on her thoroughly deserved promotion to Reader. Also to SCI PI Jose Silva who has been promoted to Principal Research Associate.

This year, SCI PI, Professor Bertie Gottgens, as well as Affiliate PIs, Dr Philip Jones and Dr Douglas Winton were awarded.Academy Fellows are elected for excellence in medical research, for innovative application of scientific knowledge or for their conspicuous service to healthcare.The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a cer…

33 organisations across Europe, led by the Wellcome Trust, published a joint “Statement Supporting Funding for Stem Cell and Reproductive Health Research in Europe”.The statement calls for current provisions that allow for the funding of all types of stem cell research - including human embryonic stem cell research - to be maintained in the EU's re…

Dr Nicholas Hannan, Research Associate in Vallier Lab was shortlisted to appear in Parliament as part of SET for Britain on Monday, 17th March.Nick’s poster will present his research on using stem cell therapies for cystic fibrosis and will be judged against dozens of other scientists’ research in the only national competition of its kind.The resea…

Stem cells to fight brain diseases say Cambridge scientistsWritten by ELEANOR DICKINSONSufferers of serious brain diseases could one day be helped by stem cell treatments, according to scientists at Cambridge University.Scientists at the University hope to be able to use the regenerative power of stem cells to treat major brain conditions such as P…

Three Korean immunologists, Dr Kim, Dr Park and Dr Jang were in the SCI last week, visiting Dr Bon-Kyoung Koo’s lab. They have visited for 3 days to learn about intestinal organoid culture for studying immune-gut interaction.On this occasion and to provide more information on the current status of organoid cultures, it was organised as a seminar wi…