Dr. Stefan Irion is the Senior Vice President of Research at BlueRock Therapeutics, a leading engineered cell therapy company with a mission to develop regenerative medicines for intractable diseases. He talks about the company’s Parkinson’s disease trial and the challenges of genetically manipulating stem cells. He also discusses his journey from physician to scientist and his personal connection to Parkinson’s disease.

Human Cortical Organoids in Rat Brains – hiPSC-derived cortical organoids were transplanted into newborn rat brains, where they developed mature cell types that integrate into sensory and motivation-related circuits.

Genome-Wide Association Studies in a Dish – Scientists used hiPSC-based screening to identify a new susceptibility locus for viral infection.

Exploring HSC Expansion – Researchers found only limited HSC expansion in the fetal liver, challenging the widely-accepted dogma that the fetal liver is an expansion niche for HSCs during ontogeny.

Mini-Bones to Model Cancer Metastasis – Scientists generated human mini-bones to model bone-developing tumors using patient-derived materials.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of BlueRock Therapeutics

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