Joanna Brzeszczynska

Funding

This project is a part of the StemBANCC European IMI collaborative for the use of iPS cells to improve drug screening and disease modelling StemBANCC European IMI

Summary

The aim of the STEMBANCC project is to generate and characterise 1,500 high quality human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines that can be used to study a range of diseases. The project also investigates the use of human iPS cells for toxicology testing. Ultimately STEMBANCC will be a source of well-characterised, patient-derived iPS cells that will help researchers study diseases, develop new treatments and test the efficacy and safety of new drugs.

The aim of my work in this project is to use the iPS cells to generate liver cells and to investigate the improvement of the differentiation process, function and longevity of developed hepatocyte-like cells but also comparison of the function of differentiated stem cell populations (hiPSC) with foetal hepatocytes and adult hepatocytes.

I have expertise in the isolation and characterisation of both human foetal hepatocytes and human foetal stem cells as well as in the propagation and genetic manipulation of hESC and hiPSC and the differentiation of these cells to the hepatocyte lineage.

My research experience covers also the isolation and investigation of adult stem cells such as: corneal limbal stem cells and muscle satellite stem cells and the analysis of transcriptional regulation in these cells. My further investigations are underway in the collaboration with Professor Kenneth Fearon and Professor Jim Ross to investigate the transcriptional differences in the mechanism of satellite cell activity in muscle regeneration between cachectic and sarcopenic patients as well as healthy individuals.

Supervisor

Professor JA Ross