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Webinar

iPSCs and Neurodegeneration: Establishing relevant cellular models and assays for advancing drug discovery

17th September 2024

16.00 CEST / 10.00 EDT / 07.00 PDT

Register for webinar

About the Webinar:

Neurodegenerative diseases continue to be a challenge in the development of effective drug treatments by the pharmaceutical industry. This is due to the diversity of genetics and environmental factors that impact disease risk as well as the difficulty in modeling the complex anatomy and interplay of brain cells in vitro. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based technology and advances in genetic engineering now offer a pathway to developing physiologically relevant models and assays of neurodegenerative disease for drug screening and preclinical research. This webinar highlights advances in iPSC-based assays for a diverse array of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and neuroinflammation.

In this webinar you will learn about:

  • How engineered and patient human iPSC-derived neurons are advancing models of neurodegenerative diseases and etiological diversity in vitro.
  • The establishment of High Throughput Screening (HTS)-compatible models of neurodegeneration, including aggregation assays, organellar analysis, neurotoxicity, and calcium oscillations using High Content Image-based and functional readouts.
  • Advancements in electrophysiological analysis of iPSC-derived neurons using manual patch clamp on isolated organelles and MEA.
  • The breadth of services provided by AXXAM using iCell® neural products (FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Inc.) 

Keywords:

iPSC-derived neurons; Neurodegenerative diseases; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); Parkinson’s Disease (PD); Alzheimer’s Disease (AD); High-throughput compatible functional assays; High content imaging assays; Protein aggregation; Organellar analysis; Multi Electrode Arrays (MEA);  Calcium Oscillations; Drug Discovery.

Speakers:

  • Stefan Lohmer , CEO – Axxam

  • Stella Donato , Principal Scientist, iPSC Unit – Axxam

  • Scott Schachtele, Product Manager, iCell® Neural Portfolio – FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics

During Q&A session is also present:

  • Dolores Del Prete, Principal Scientist, High Content Unit – Axxam

Stefan Lohmer is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axxam since 2001. Prior to founding Axxam, he was the Director of Bayer’s Research Centre in Milan (Italy) and the Head of Genomics worldwide for Bayer AG. In this function Stefan was responsible for generating and managing Bayer’s external genomic alliance with Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, USA). He joined Bayer at the corporate research center located at Wuppertal (Germany) in 1992. Stefan holds a degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Albertus Magnus University in Cologne (Germany) and completed his PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding in Cologne. He is an inventor on more than 20 patents and has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. Stefan serves on the Board of Directors for Rewind Therapeutics, Libra Therapeutics, and Golgi Neurosciences as well being an Observer on the Board of Acousia Therapeutics.

Stefan is passionate about transformative science and creating companies. “Never follow the path, always set the trail!”

Stella Donato is a Principal Scientist in the iPSC Unit at Axxam. Stella received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Naples “Federico II”, followed by postdoctoral fellowship at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, in Tübingen, Germany, where she focused on the study of the molecular mechanisms altered in neurodegenerative diseases, with a special emphasis on Parkinson’s Disease.
At Axxam, with more than 7 years experience working with human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and hiPSCs derived neuronal cells in 2D and 3D platforms, Stella applied and extended her experience on the development and optimization iPSC-derived disease models as well as cell-based assays that can be suitable for drug discovery applications.

Scott Schachtele is the Product Manager for the iCell® Neural Portfolio at FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Iowa in 2008, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroimmune virology at the University of Minnesota. Scott has over 10 years of life science and cell therapy industry experience within product management and marketing. At FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Scott focuses on developing and delivering new iPSC-derived neural cells and relevant application protocols for use in drug discovery and preclinical research.

Dolores Del Prete is the Principal Scientist for the High Content Unit at Axxam in Milan, Italy. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Genoa in 2012, where her research focused on calcium dysregulation in Alzheimer’s Disease. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA, where she explored the signaling functions of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) in neurodegeneration.

In 2016, to ensure her work had a direct impact on preclinical studies, Dolores moved to BioMed X, an independent research institute. There, she worked on two main projects: (1) the development of iPSC model systems to assess astrocyte and neuronal function in the development of psychiatric disorders, and (2) designing cell-based assays to study the role of astrocyte metabolism in the physiology and pathology of stress-related disorders.

Dolores’s extensive expertise in both academic and industry settings has significantly contributed to advancements in drug discovery and preclinical research, particularly through her innovative work with primary and iPSC-derived cells. At Axxam, Dolores focuses on developing and optimizing phenotypic cell-based assays, encompassing all steps from development to miniaturization and data analysis for use in drug discovery and preclinical research.

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