News

The Stem Cells Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC) is currently inviting postgraduate researchers and postdoctoral research fellows to submit applications for research funding and training, rooted in stem cell research that fosters integration along disciplines. Eligibility The scheme is open to all postgraduate researchers and postdoctoral res…

Dr Thóra Káradóttir, Professor Andrew McCaskie, Dr Fotios Sampaziotis, and Professor Sanjay Sinha of the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (CSCI) were recently interviewed in CAM Magazine’s recent feature on regenerative medicine.Discussing their work on hearts, livers, joints, and brains, using cutting-edge research techniques, these insp…

A total of 26 new Postgraduate students started at CSCI in October 2022, under the supervision of 11 different PIs within the Institute.These students are on a variety of PhD and Masters programmes, and are based in the following labs:Wellcome MRes + PhD Programme (currently doing rotations): 6 studentsCCMR MRes + PhD Programme (currently doing rot…

Cambridge scientists from the Sampaziotis labshow that a widely used drug to treat liver disease can prevent COVID-19 infection or reduce disease severityCambridge Stem Cell Institute scientists have identified an off-patent drug that can be repurposed to prevent COVID-19 – and may be capable of protecting against future variants of the virus – in …

Winners from the Collaboration Creation Days workshop have been awarded this week for their proposals presented at the end of the event. In September, the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute Interdisciplinary Research Centre, together with Sensor CDT, Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology, and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biote…

Cambridge researchers are taking part in the world’s first clinical trial of red blood cells that have been grown in a laboratory for transfusion into another person. The manufactured blood cells were grown from stem cells from donors. The red cells were then transfused into volunteers in the RESTORE randomised controlled clinical trial. This is th…

Clinical trial for new stem cell-based Parkinson’s disease treatment to move forwardCambridge researchers will play a key role in clinical trials of a new treatment that involves transplanting healthy nerve cells into the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease.The Swedish Medical Products Agency has granted approval for the trial to proceed; e…

University of Cambridge scientists this week demonstrate dramatic differences in the ability of Zika Virus to attack parallel stem cell populations in the developing brain and in malignant brain tumours. The mechanisms uncovered could be important for preventing birth defects and for treating brain tumours in the future.Dr. Harry Bulstrode, working…

This month, CSCI welcomes two new scientists to join the group of 29 PIs conducting stem cell research in Cambridge. Dr Maria Duque-Correa  started her own research group at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Cambridge in January 2022, and will continue her research on infectious diseases, …

Last week, the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (CSCI) welcomed paediatric patients and their families to the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre for a visit, where they made Play-Doh cells in petri dishes, practiced pipetting samples, and took a tour of the labs with the Milner Therapeutics Institute. Patients of Dr Matthias Zilbauer (Department of Paedi…

Last month at the Royal Society in London, CSCI scientists Professor David Rowitch and Professor Benjamin Simons were invited to sign the charter of Royal Fellowship, finalising their induction into the Royal Society. While they were initially elected as Fellows in May 2021, the official ceremony was delayed by COVID-19. The Royal Society has been …

The discovery of 14 inherited genetic changes which significantly increase the risk of a person developing a symptomless blood disorder associated with the onset of some types of cancer and heart disease is published today in Nature Genetics. The finding, made in one of the largest studies of its kind through genetic data analysis on 421,738 people…

A cross-species analysis of energy metabolism in mammalian embryogenesisCells of the early mammalian embryo face a unique challenge: to produce large numbers of progeny quickly while regulating appropriate cell differentiation in a short amount of time. The regulation of energy metabolism is crucial for these processes, both to supply energy for pr…

Scientists have identified the biochemical signals that control the emergence of the body pattern in the primate embryo. This will guide work to understand birth defects and pregnancy loss in humans.The study also provides a crucial reference for foetal tissue generation in the lab. Such tissue is in short supply but is needed for drug screening an…

Our body produces one trillion new blood cells each day, a process driven by rare haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) inside the bone marrow. A new paper demonstrates that even rarer HSPCs with unique features also exist in other human organs. This work, from the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (CSCI) and the Department of Ha…