02/12/2022 13:45
Zoom
“Understanding the transcriptome of limbal stem cells at the single cell level and their clinical utility for the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency”.
Special guest for this online seminar is Prof. Majlinda Lako, a professor of stem cell sciences at Newcastle University, UK.
Majlinda Lako graduated in Biochemistry and Genetics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Tirana, (Albania). For her Ph.D. studies in Human Genetics in 1993 she joined the lab of two world-known geneticists, Prof. Tom Strachan and Susan Lindsay, in Newcastle, where she cloned and characterized novel genes involved in the development of the brain. These led to a great interest in pluripotent stem cell biology, which she studied at Durham University.
In 2003, Professor Lako established her own research group at Newcastle University’s Institute of Genetic Medicine, where she pioneered the establishment of hESCs and hiPSCs and the development of robust methods for the generation of light-responsive retinal organoids for disease modelling, drug discovery, and therapeutic applications. Studying the developmental biology and disease of the eye is a core activity of her research group. Dysfunction of any of the cell types that reside in the retina or supporting cells, the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), which is vital for the health of the retina, will disrupt vision. The aim of her research group is to determine the mechanisms that cause such disruption and find ways to repair the damage.
Professor Lako is the Co-director of Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells and Transplantation, a member of the Biosciences Institute at Newcastle University, UK and her work contributes to the Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells and Transplantation theme. She is also part of the Neuroscience NUCoRE.