To Τμήμα Χημικών Μηχανικών σας προσκαλεί στη διάλεξη του

κ. Εμμανουήλ Τζανακάκη, Αναπληρωτή Καθηγητή του Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, του Tufts University, USA  που θα πραγματοποιηθεί την Δευτέρα 19 Μαρτίου 2018 στις 12 το μεσημέρι στην αίθουσα συνεδριάσεων στο ισόγειο του κτηρίου Δ’ της Πολυτεχνικής Σχολής

“Advanced biomanufacturing of human stem cells for engineering cellular therapies”

 

Emmanuel Tzanakakis

Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Tufts University

 

Abstract: Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can serve as an inexhaustible source of material for cellular therapies. Yet, realization of the potential of hPSCs will require the development of bioprocesses for the generation of functional progeny in clinically relevant quantities. My group has successfully cultivated hPSCs in scalable stirred-suspension bioreactors as aggregates, on microcarriers and after encapsulation. These three-dimensional culture modalities afford greater flexibility for downstream operations, better utilization of media and higher yields leading to lower bioprocessing costs compared to static surface cultures.

Unlike the production of vaccines and protein therapeutics, the manufacturing of stem cell-based biologics entails unique considerations since the cells rather than their metabolites are the desired products. These considerations include the implementation of a bioreactor environment that is free of animal-sourced components (xeno-free), the efficient transport of oxygen to the cell ensembles, and the development of quantitative models for bioprocess operation and the selection of suitable conditions. Results will be presented on the expansion and directed differentiation of hPSCs in the aforementioned cultivation platforms. Particular emphasis will be placed on our engineering of modular xeno-free microcarriers systems. My team’s efforts to capture stem cell self-renewal and differentiation processes with population balance models will also be highlighted. Lastly, our group’s research will be presented on the scalable generation of cells with ultimate applications in the treatment of diabetes and heart disease.

 

Βιογραφικά στοιχεία

Dr. Emmanuel Tzanakakis is an Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts University. He is also a faculty member at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of the Tufts Medical Center. Professor Tzanakakis earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and received his post-doctoral training at the Stem Cell Institute of the University of Minnesota and the Diabetes Center at the University of California-San Francisco. Research in the Tzanakakis group focuses on stem cell engineering and bioprocessing, with emphasis on the development of cellular therapies for diabetes. The laboratory also works on optogenetic approaches for engineering pancreatic tissue equivalents and has a long-standing interest in the expression and function of regenerating (Reg) proteins in normal and disease states of the pancreas. Professor Tzanakakis has co-authored over fifty-five peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has supervised more than 25 MS and PhD graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. He is the recipient of the James D. Watson Investigator Award and of fellowships from the National Institutes of Health and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Funding for his research has been provided by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, New York State Stem Cell Science agency and the US Department of Defense.