PROJECT TEAM

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  IDRYMA IATROVIOLOGIKON EREUNON AKADEMIAS ATHINON (BRFAA) (GREECE)- COORDINATOR

  Team Leader: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis (m) studied Biology at the University of Crete and obtained his PhD in Molecular Genetics from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of the Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH) in Crete, Greece (2002). He then moved to Columbia University New York to study cancer biology. He became an Assistant Professor level Investigator at BRFAA (2009), an Associate Professor level Investigator (2015) and a Full Professor level in 2019. The lab focuses on studying various aspects of tumorigenesis and uses mouse models to achieve that. These models can be genetically engineered mice or cell line and patient-derived xenografts. Dr. Klinakis has 15 years of experience in generating mouse models of cancer of all kinds. He is in charge of the BRFAA knockin/knockout mouse facility.

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  ASSOCIACAO DO INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TECNICO PARA A INVESTIGACAO EDESENVOLVIMENTO (IST ID)

  Team Leader: Dr. Cláudia Lobato da Silva (f) is Associate Professor at the Department of Bioengineering at IST. She co-authored more than 80 SCI papers, with an h-index of 27, 1 patent, 2 edited books and 19 book chapters. Dr Lobato da Silva supervised 25 PhD students in Stem Cell Bioengineering (8 as main supervisor). Her research focus in on the clinical manufacturing of advanced cell therapy products (ATMPs). Dr Lobato da Silva serves as reviewer for several journals in the stem cell engineering and cellular therapy areas. She was the vice-President of the Portuguese Society of Stem Cells and Cellular Therapies in 2015-2019. Dr. Cláudia Lobato da Silva will be the contact person and responsible for the scientific research developed at IST-ID, assuming the leadership of WP1. She will coordinate the cooperation and outputs produced by IST-ID. She will take part in the working process and will set up the management plans and working steps for the partner. She will participate in project meetings and present the project outputs at scientific events. Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) was founded in 1911 and is the largest and one of the most reputed schools of engineering in Portugal, ranking as 15th in Europe in the subject of Engineering (best Global Universities Rankings (BGUR)). The Association of Instituto Superior Técnico for Research and Development (IST-ID) is a private not-forprofit institution, which primarily aims at carrying out Science and Technology activities, fostering knowledge transfer and promoting the involvement of national and foreign researchers, internally and externally, in RD&I projects in their areas of expertise. IST-ID carries out RD&I activities in two major areas, which are associated with challenges with a strong impact on society. These are strongly interdisciplinary areas in nature and cut across different fields of engineering, science and technology, and architecture.

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  INSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS (ICCS) (linked third party PhosPrint P.C.) (GREECE)

  Team Leader: Prof. Ioanna Zergioti (f) is among the first researchers worldwide who worked on the establishment of the LIFT process as bioprinting technology. She worked as a post doctoral researcher in the Max Planck Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie in Göttingen, on Laser matter interactions studies and at Philips CFT on Laser Sintering of sol-gels for electronics. Her current main activities are related to laser bioprinting for tissue engineering and sensor applications. She is co-authored more than 160 publications in international refereed journals and conference proceedings, chapters in scientific books, 1 active PCT. She has coordinated many research projects funded by the EU including ICT-BIOCDx, ICT-BIOFOS, HiperLam, LP-Drugs, etc.http://zergioti.physics.ntua.gr/. PhosPrint P.C. is an SME, a spin-off from the Institute of Communication and Computer System of the National Technical University of Athens (ICCS/NTUA) is based in Athens, Greece, and was co-founded in 2019 by experienced researchers in the field of laser bioprinting. The company specializes in the optical design and development of high-quality laser printing systems suitable for the laser bioprinting of biomaterials including cells, proteins, antibodies, and hydrogels. What is considered as PhosPrint's core competence is the ability to interface the fields of bioprinting and regenerative medicine aiming to provide solutions along the value chain of bioprinted products, which are realized through its laser bioprinter. https://www.phosprint.eu/.

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  OPTICS11 BV (OPTICS11) (NETHERLANDS)

  Team Leader: Dr. Kevin Bielawski is a Development Manager at Optics11 Life, leading an R&D department that is developing new instrumentation to enable mechanical measurements for diagnostics, drug development, and regenerative medicine. He studied mechanical engineering and earned the PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, where he developed instruments on measuring tissue forces and devices for applying force in microfluidic channels. In 2018, Kevin joined Optics11 Life to develop new fiber-top technologies for studying mechanical properties of cells and tissues, ex-vivo or in-vitro. He participated in leading the development of the Pavone nanoindenter, as well as projects to redesign the Piuma and Chiaro, and projects to develop new technologies that will soon enter the market. The Optics11 nanoindenters enable stiffness and dynamic measurements to promote to developments in diagnostics, drug development, and regenerative medicine.

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  METATISSUE - BIOSOLUTIONS, LDA (MET) (PORTUGAL)

  Team Leader: Prof. João Mano (m) PhD in Chemistry (1996, Technical Univ. Lisbon), D.Sc. in Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells (2012, Univ. Minho), is a full professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Aveiro (Portugal) Principal Investigator at CICECO Associate Laboratory- Aveiro Institute of Materials, where he founded and is directing the COMPASS research group (RG). João Mano is an internationally recognized expert on a range of research topics that include soft matter?based biomaterials, nano/microprocessing technologies, self-and directed assembly, biomimetics, cells, and tissue engineering, and polymer/surface chemistry. He is a co-founder of METATISSUE that designs and supply human-based materials for life sciences. JFCC, Biosolutions (commercial name: METATISSUE) was founded in April 2018 by bringing together expertise from the COMPASS Research Group from University of Aveiro in bioengineering, biomaterials and tissue engineering with its industry-oriented and translational research strategy. The core competency of the company lies in the design and development of human based soft materials for 3D cell culture. The raw materials for the commercial products are human native tissues donated by hospitals and clinical institutions under strict regulatory controls. The proposed cutting-edge technology enables the culture of human cells in a physiologically relevant microenvironment for applications in cell culture research, drug screening and development, cancer research, tissue engineering, replacement of animal testing and therapeutic applications. The company owns a patent in the technology to prepare 3D cell culture platforms derived from human whole-blood samples that are fully customizable to address research needs in life sciences.

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  ASPHALION SL (ASPH) (SPAIN)

  Team Leader: Christopher Mann started working in the field of advanced therapies in 1995 in Perth, Australia developing novel therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). After completing his PhD in 2003 he moved to Kings College London (KCL) to undertake a first post-doctoral position studying stem cells and skeletal muscle regeneration, also in DMD, before moving to Barcelona in 2005. In Barcelona, Christopher completed two post docs in gene therapy, immunology and skeletal muscle regeneration. In January 2013 he joined Asphalion, an international scientific and regulatory affairs company with headquarters in Barcelona where he is currently one of the Scientific & Regulatory Affairs Directors. Since joining Asphalion he has participated in many projects for various clients from start-ups to medium and large pharmaceutical companies with a specialisation in biological products including advanced therapies, vaccines and new technologies as well as paediatric drug development. He is also a participant and work package leader in several European research projects involving vaccines and advanced therapies. In addition, he has also worked as a trainer in several programmes including masters programmes and specialist training courses for advanced therapy drug development and masters training courses.

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