Gothenberg

In cell culture, Dr Kristina Vukusic and Prof Dr Anders Lindahl, U of Gothenburg.

Prof. Dr Anders Lindahl, PI at the University of Gothenburg (UGOT) kindly answered a set of questions posed by Danielle Nicholson, Pintail Limited in advance of our upcoming meeting in Sweden. Special thanks to Dr Kristina Vukusic, UGOT who helped facilitate this.

How and when did you first become interested in cell biology?

My interest in cell biology started early in my MD studies. Subsequently, I became interested in longitudinal growth and the growth plate during my PhD studies and my experimental work was focused on chondrocyte cell cultures. I was inspired by the clinical use of cell therapy during my postdoc stay at Harvard in the mid-1980s at the Department of the late Professor Howard Green who developed skin cell culture for burn treatment.

 

What is it about chemistry that interests you most these days?

Since I have clinical training in Clinical Chemistry my interest is mainly in the early diagnostics of diseases and with a special interest in the identification of predictive biomarkers for osteoarthritis.

 

What do you see as the biggest challenge to the cell therapy and cartilage repair field right now?

The biggest challenge is to implement the new technology in clinical settings and to do well-performed clinical studies to get these new cell-based therapies registered on the market in the future. The regulatory environment for small companies and academic researchers as well as the reimbursement systems for cell therapies is however challenging.

 

Please describe your group and facilities.

The group now consists of 6 researchers and 2 PhD students. We collaborate The research facility is in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and we have excellent facilities for molecular and cellular research in the Clinical Chemistry laboratory where the group is situated.

 

Your work seems incredibly varied: supervising PhD students, grant writing and admin, lab work, and travel. Which aspects do you enjoy most?

I enjoy most the scientific discussions and testing new ideas and hypotheses. It is always energizing to see the curiosity in young students’ eyes and get all these questions. They get you to feel older but wise too sometimes.

 

For how long have you been in Gothenburg at the university?

I have been a professor since the year 2000 and I have been working as a laboratory director for 10 years. The research facilities are excellent and the collaboration with colleagues at the Sahlgrenska Academy is both easy and rewarding. During the years the network of collaborations has grown big. The tight work of clinicians with researchers and implementation of cross-scientific new technologies such as 3D printing opens up for future personalized medicine.

 

Talk us through your group’s role in AutoCRAT, please.

Our role in the project is to establish a protocol for the derivation of chondrocyte progenitors from induced pluripotent stem cells, to produce cells and secreted vesicles for future regenerative treatment for patients with cartilage defects. Furthermore, we provide adult chondrocytes for comparison and their extracellular vesicles. Since we have over 30 years of experience in Autologous Chondrocyte transplantation we can help with GMP knowledge for cell therapy production. We will also conduct large animal studies here in Gothenburg in the last year of the project, testing the efficacy of our derived cells and their secreted vesicles.

 

What do you find most exciting about the AutoCRAT project?

The project is an international collaborative project between several institutions in Europe and the International work collaboration is very interesting and adds new technologies to the cell biology field. Among other things a robotic production system with advanced monitoring of cell cultures. We are very curious about the outcome of the final product and the therapeutic potential of secreted vesicles from different cell types.

 

Had you worked with Professor Mary Murphy or any of the partners before AutoCRAT?

I have known the group of Mary Murphy and other researchers in AutoCRAT for several years, but we have not had the chance to project collaborations together before. Mary is a great leader and the UGOT team is appreciating the open and familiar atmosphere in the AutoCRAT. We are happy to host the meeting and to welcome all dear collogues to our beautiful Gothenburg.

 

What do you like to do in your free time?

Walking in nature year-round, even in the sometimes tough Swedish weather. Skiing in the winter, mostly in Norway, and boating here on the Swedish West Coast in the summer. I live by the seaside and can´t think of living elsewhere.  I love dogs and have had dogs for over 50 years although not now but I am taking care of my daughter’s dog when needed.