ISTM hosts collaborators from Switzerland

Left to Right: Professor Mauro Alini, Professor Alicia El Haj & Professor Martin Stoddart

Members of ISTM gathered at the Guy Hilton Research Centre on Thursday last week to hear presentations from two key collaborators who work at the AO Foundation Research Institute at Davos, Switzerland.

Professor Martin Stoddart, Principal Scientist at the AO Institute, spoke on monitoring stem cell fate with "Smartflare", a new technique using to observe mRNA expression of two genes in individual live cells using fluorescent probes.

Professor Mauro Alini, Head of Musculoskeletal Regeneration at the AO Institute, talked about stem cells for intervertebral disc regeneration, which was of particular interest to ISTM members working in that area based at RJAH Hospital in Oswestry.The extended visit gave an opportunity for discussions with staff and research students from all ISTM's three major sites.