Exclusive Speaker Interview for SMI’s Inaugural Cell & Gene Therapy 2018
SMi are delighted to have interviewed, speaker, Ioannis Papantoniou, ATMP Bioprocessing Coordinator, Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Centre, KU Leuven regarding his thoughts and experiences within the cell & gene therapy space.
Ioannis Papantoniou is a Chemical Engineer by training, at the University of Patras, Greece. After graduation he pursued a Doctoral degree (MPhil and PhD) at the Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London (UCL), UK. He carried out his postdoctoral research activities first at UCL and subsequently at KU Leuven working on bioprocess optimization for prostate cancer cell therapy vaccine production (a precursor of CAR-T cell therapies), in collaboration with Onyvax and skeletal ATMP bioprocess development respectively.
Currently he is leading several academic research projects and collaborative R&D activities with several industrial partners active in the cell therapy and tissue engineering, biosensor, and bioreactor sectors. His research aim is to develop automated, scalable and cost-effective bioprocess pipelines for the production of compliant 3D Tissue Engineered ATMPs with built-in quality attributes.
Snapshot of Interview:
Q. What are the greatest research challenges to overcome in the field at the moment?
A. "For MSC based therapies the main challenge will be the identification of Mechanisms of Action that will define the therapeutic potency/performance of the ATMP."
Q. Where are the greatest opportunities for ATMP leaders?
A. "Providing birds-eye view linking all necessary ingredient that currently exist but are not used to full capacity."
Q. What are the main challenges in your day-to-day work relating to drug discovery?
Check out the full interview in the download centre online: www.cellandgeneconference.com/pr5
Ioannis will be speaking at the launch of Cell & Gene Therapy, as he will be presenting: 'Scalable Production of Adult Progenitor Cell Populations for Skeletal Regeneration – Bridging the gap.'
For those looking to attend there is currently a £300 saving ending June 29th!
Further information is available at: www.cellandgeneconference.com/phpr
SMi presents the Launch of:
Cell & Gene Therapy 2018
Date: 10th – 11th October 2018
Workshops: 9th October 21018
Location: Copthorne Tara Hotel, London UK
Website: www.cellandgeneconference.com/phpr
---end---
Contact Information:
For all media inquiries contact Pavan Solanki on Tel: +44 (0)20 7827 6048 / Email: psolanki@smi-online.co.uk
About SMi Group:
Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world's most forward-thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk
