Phone -
The advent of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology has given rise to a revolution in the field of biomedical research. These cells currently used in numerous laboratories worldwide offer seemingly endless possibilities, namely in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue modelling for improving our research and therapeutic options against numerous diseases. However, the safety of their use in patients is still a topic of debate, as there are concerns regarding the formation of tumors after the use of pluripotent stem cell-derived products with a clinical intention.
The goal of my PhD project is to shed light into what makes a human pluripotent stem cell potentially malignant and thus unsafe for clinical use, aiming to develop an animal-free system that is able to distinguish those cells with malignant potential from those safe to be used. To do so, my PhD project combines the efforts of our work at the Looijenga group and the expertise in malignant germ cell tumors as models of malignant stem cells, with the expertise of the group of Prof. dr. Daniela Salvatori at the Veterinary Medicine faculty of Utrecht University focusing on human pluripotent stem cells and the teratoma assay as a method to depict this malignant potential. This research may contribute to developing safety measures for the clinical application of pluripotent stem cell-derived therapies.