Dr. Sara Wickström is the Sigrid Juselius Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Helsinki, and was recently appointed as the new Director of Cell and Tissue Dynamics at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine. Her research focuses on how mechanical forces act in collaboration with cellular signals to influence cell fate and position. She discusses her work on mechanotransduction and its applications for cell culture and organ engineering, as well as her research on the hair follicle stem cell niche. She also talks about running an interdisciplinary lab, and what could make academia a more attractive career path.

Single-Cell Analysis of a Gastrulating Human Embryo – Researchers found primordial germ cells, red blood cells, and various mesodermal and endodermal cell types, but no neurons, in a post-implantation embryo.

Patient-Derived Organoid Models of Schizophrenia – Scientists generated patient-derived cerebral organoids to model schizophrenia neuropathology in early development.

X Chromosome Inactivation in Cynomolgus Monkeys – Researchers elucidated a distinct mechanism for X chromosome inactivation in cynomolgus monkeys, which could serve as a model for human development.

Deep Learning for Multiplex Image Analysis – Scientists developed a training dataset and algorithm to quantify cell morphology from tissue imaging data.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Sara Wickström

Never miss updates about new episodes.