Conference roundup 2014

TERMIS-Europe presents one of the major international conferences in the field of tissue engineering. As such, it is always a fascinating forum to share ideas and connect with researchers across a multitude of disciplines.

This year saw a large delegation from Keele, presenting our recent work on nanoparticle-based approaches for regenerative medicine, biomaterials and stem cell therapies for bone and cartilage engineering.

Many of the themes this year focussed on translation, with impressive keynote lectures on the state of the art in applying laboratory approaches to treating patients in the clinic.

As always, the TERMIS social programme was spectacular – featuring an after-hours tour of Genoa aquarium, cocktails, an array of fresh seafood and a variety of Renaissance palaces.

Next year the TERMIS world congress will take place in Boston and we hope to have a similarly large delegation from Keele, to share our research in regenerative medicine and connect with YOU – colleagues and friends from around the world.

We also tour other conferences throughout the year where you can see us present. Please feel free to come and say hello if you see our presentations or posters!


BIRAX
Britain Israel
Research and Academic Exchange Partnership
Israel
25-26 March

Mag(NET)icFun
Genoa
2-4 June

TERMIS-EU
Tissue Engineering &
Regenerative Medicine International
Society (Europe)
Genoa, Italy
10-13 June

Scientific & Clinical
Applications of Magnetic Carriers
Dresden, Germany
10-14 June

ARUK
Arthritis Research UK
(Biomechanics and Bioengineering)
Loughborough
19 June

BRS
Bone Research Society
Sheffield
25-26 June

TCES
Tissue & Cell Engineering Society
Newcastle
2-4 July

SPEC
Krakow, Poland
17-22 August

ESB
European Society for Biomaterials
Liverpool
31 August – 3 September

FIRM
Future Investigators in
Regenerative Medicine
Girona, Spain
8-11 September

EMRS
European Materials
Research Society
Warsaw, Poland
15-19 September

MSCA (YI)
Mercia Stem Cell Alliance
(and Young
Investigators meeting)
Liverpool
18-19 September

TERMIS-AP
Tissue Engineering
& Regenerative Medicine International Society
(Asia-Pacific)
Daegu, Rep. Korea
24-27 September

Bioreactors and Growth Environments for Tissue Engineering Training Course

This 3-day interactive training course is targeted at industry and academia at postgraduate levels. Delegates are provided with a comprehensive understanding of the use of Bioreactors in Tissue Engineering. The course focuses on bioreactors and growth environments for tissue engineering, covering bone, cartilage and connective tissue engineering.

This workshop will include:

· Bioreactor design for complex tissues 

· Mechanical Bioreactors—design & optimisation 

· QA/Growing cells for clinical 

· Building on-line monitoring into Bioreactors

· Practical sessions—Design a bioreactor / Parameter optimisation

Additional workshop features: 

· Hands on experience in practical break-out sessions 

· Direct interaction with opinion leaders in the field

· Industrial and academic demonstration of Bioreactors 

Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th November 2014 

Sustainability Hub, Keele University 

Organised by 

Prof Alicia J. El Haj & Dr Nicholas R. Forsyth 

from the 

Institute for Science & Technology in 

Medicine, Keele University 

Registration is now open. Please visit: 

http://www.keele.ac.uk/biote/home/

Or contact 

Joseph Clarke

+44 (0) 1782 674998

j.clarke@keele.ac.uk

FIRM 2014 Early Career Symposium Future Investigators of Regenerative Medicine

Future Investigators of Regenerative Medicine (FIRM) was established by four members of the Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine seeking to create a forum for young researchers, to come together in a friendly and informal setting. This allows the creation of new networks early on in their careers that can lead to future worldwide collaborations, whilst also gaining invaluable experience presenting at an international conference. With over 70 attendees from 32 international institutions FIRM 2013 has already begun to build a large community of early career researchers with collaborative work starting from the moment the symposium finished.

FIRM symposium 2014 plans to be bigger and better than last year. Whilst keeping the best bits in; the networking, open discussions, quick fire poster presentations and oral presentation slots, they have also created new sessions in response to last year’s feedback, with more interactive debates and career development training workshops rounding off the FIRM experience. These training workshops will provide attendees with the knowledge and skills to further their personal development and gain experience in areas such as clinical delivery, imaging, communication and commercialisation.

This years title ‘Life Cycle of Cell Therapies’ is broken down into five interconnected sessions, Fundamental Biology, Biomaterials, Enabling Technology, Commercialisation and Clinical Delivery. In order to produce a viable cell therapy industry all these pieces need to work together, like cogs in a well oiled machine.

To enable this FIRM have secured a number of world renowned international keynote speakers purposely chosen to bring forward knowledge in every aspect of the life cycle of cell therapies.

Girona, Spain

8th—11th September 2014

Confirmed Speakers:

Dr Robert Preti

Progenitor Cell Therapy, USA

Prof Erik Shapiro

Michigan State University, USA

Prof Katja Schenke-Layland

Fraunhofer Institute, Germany

Dr Paolo De Coppi

Great Ormond Street Hospital, UK

Dr Alan Horner

Smith and Nephew, UK

Dr Jamie Cleaver

Key Skills Training for Scientists, UK

Dr Kei Mayamoto

Cambridge University, UK

Cost: £350

Including:

▪ Conference fee

▪ Delegate bag

▪ 3 nights accommodation

▪ All meals

www.firmsymposium.com

Major funding boost EPSRC commit additional funding for Centre for Doctoral Training

In 2008 the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) realised the need to support capacity in the rapidly growing sector of regenerative medicine and so funded the Loughborough-Nottingham-Keele Centre for Doctoral Training (DTC) in 2010. Now, jointly funded by the EPSRC and Medical Research Council (MRC), the programme has been rebranded the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT).
The CDT’s aim is to provide training to new professionals in the core scientific and translational skills needed to drive the regenerative medicine industry and with an intake of approximately 10 PhD studentships per year, it attracts a diverse cohort of chemical engineers, computer network engineers, physicists and chemists. It is this interdisciplinarity that underpins the centres vision to tackle the field of regenerative medicine, from different perspectives.

Regenerative medicine is a relatively new field, covering a wide range of therapies and technologies designed to re-establish function in damaged or diseased tissues, such as bone, nerves and skin. With our aging population the delivery of next generation healthcare is a government priority; addressing debilitating conditions such as heart and neurological diseases and arthritis.

The CDT has received a total government investment of over £500m and a further £450m from University and industry collaborations, which includes a recent £3.5million joint award by the EPSRC and the Medical Research Council (MRC). This funding has established a successful research community in the Midlands area and as such received significant interest across the private and public sector.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, said, “Our £500 million investment in Centres for Doctoral training will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, ensuring Britain leads the world in high-tech research and manufacturing.”

Keele University’s Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM) is part of this research community and provides the clinical and translational arm to the CDT programmes; increasing focus on the clinical need and application of new technologies, positively impacting on the way regenerative therapies are delivered.

To date, the CDT has delivered six PhD cohorts trained in the core scientific and translational skills needed to deliver world-class research and serves as a flagship of research activity for the ISTM and Keele University.

UK-India Stem cell manufacturing alliance

The first stage in a three-part, nineteen month, multinational project to explore the control of expression patterns in embryonic stem cells in environmental conditions, has now been completed.

Laboratories from Keele University’s Institute of Science and Technology (ISTM), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and New Delhi (IIT-ND) are involved in the staff/student exchange project as part of a UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).

The UKIERI funds activities aimed at establishing educational relationships between the UK and India; producing systemic changes in India and opportunities for professional development across various educational institutions.

ISTM has been involved in establishing a stem cell manufacturing unit for culturing cells and transplantation to patients at the Guy Hilton Research Centre at University Hospital North Staffordshire. This Unit links to the existing facility at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry which has treated just under 500 patients and aims to provide cells for clinical trials. The Unit has been approved for establishing some industrially funded trials and is currently developing capacity for manufacturing other cells types such as embryonic stem cells as part of the UK-India initiative alongside our Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine.

Working together, the laboratories in Keele and IIT-ND have now completed the first stage of their research plan which was to generate a miRNA profile of human embryonic stem cells cultured in hypoxic conditions (2% O2), in comparison to ambient air (21% O2). This work has identified approximately 200 miRNA which are differentially regulated in hESC in an oxygen-dependent manner. Bioinformatic and functional analysis of these miRNA is currently underway and a report is being prepared for publication and international dissemination.

Global healthcare communities: East meets West

Hyanji Scaffold is a four year exchange scheme supported by the European Commission. Its aim is to nurture a European-Chinese collaboration across four internationally acclaimed biomedical research groups: ISTM, Pisa, Tsinghua and Sichuan University.

The alliance focuses on the development of new material chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacy methods for cartridge and bone tissue engineering techniques, and in particular biosynthesis of biomaterials and targeted drug delivery. There is an expectation that the sharing of knowledge, skills and expertise will lead to the development of new healthcare treatments for bone and cartilage defects, for the European and Chinese industry.

To date, Keele University’s Institute of Science and Technology (ISTM) has sent two lecturers and six students to Tsinghua University: Professor Alicia El Haj (ISTM’s Director), Dr Nick Forsyth, Alex Lomas, Richard Webb, Ian Wimpenny, Tina Dale, Thomas Heathman, and Thomas Kwan.

Each student spent between a month and a year at Tsinghua and their goal was to develop a biologically generated polymer scaffold to be used in the treatment of damaged tendons. On their return, students spoke of the collaboration's success in terms of research but also on a personal level.

“I experienced what life would be like as a research student in China; the laboratories were well equipped, the professors are great and I’ve built lifelong friendships and collaborations with Chinese students and academic staff. I also acquired a taste for the Sichuan hotpot and ‘snow’ beer, the local brew!” said Richard, returning from a second 6 month placement at the West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University.

Richard and his fellow ISTM students continue to work on the development of new bone and cartilage defect treatments, as part of the European-Chinese collaboration, and it is hoped that this partnership of specialised institutions will continue long after the scheme closes.

Turning up the pressure on bone tissue engineering

Exercise is important for building strong bones, but it is an interesting question as to how bone cells sense these forces and modify the bone structure to cope with increased strain. It has been shown that one of the main ways that cells sense physical activity is through fluctuations in the pressure of the fluid inside the bone and cartilage.

Stress and strain during exercise cause pressure changes that are sensed by osteocytes – cells which live in small, interconnected spaces throughout the bone and act as ‘pressure sensors’ for monitoring bone activity. These then signal to stem cells in the marrow, stimulating them to turn into mature bone cells and replenishing the pool of active cells that are responsible for building bones and healing fractures.

Thus the extremes of intensive training allow athletes to build strength into their bones and compete to their maximum potential, whilst a lack of exercise causes a dramatic weakening of the skeleton. In fact, pressure is sensed by bone cells from an early age - even as the limb is forming in the foetus, a baby’s ‘kicking’ is thought to play a vital role in making sure that the bone and joints form normally by giving them a work-out whilst still in the womb.

At Keele, and in collaboration with Instron (TGT), we have developed a bioreactor which can artificially simulate these natural pressure changes and allow us to experiment on bones in the lab - culturing them in an environment which mimics natural exercise and then accurately measuring the effects on bone growth.

We are now using this bioreactor to look at various aspects of how dynamic pressure affects bone development, using whole (chick) organ cultures and both embryonic and adult bone marrow stem cells. Understanding the role of pressure as a stimulus for bone growth and repair has the potential to dramatically improve clinical treatments for hip and knee replacements, osteoporosis, arthritis and non-healing fractures, helping to translate basic research into advanced medical practice.

In this experiment, femurs from a developing chick foetus were cultured for two weeks in static conditions (top) or with an intermittent pressure (simulating walking) for 1 hour per day (bottom). We found that this significantly increased bone formation in the cortex (*stained red) and caused an increase in the production of collagen (the main organic structural component of bone). We also found that faster frequencies (i.e. faster walking) had the greatest effect on increasing bone density.