Research program

EuroStemCell's research programme is organized into eight workpackages on specific areas of stem cell research, supported by six flagship projects that span the workpackage areas.

Workpackages

Five workpackages focus on the fundamental biology of stem cells:

Workpackages 1A and 1B: Identification and Isolation of Stem Cells
The focus of these two workpackages is to identify, isolate and undertake comparative characterization of stem cells for tissues of major clinical importance: neural stem cells for brain repair; Mesodermal stem cells for giving rise to blood cells and muscular tissue; Epithelial stem cells for skin replacement and for generation of thymus and other epithelial organs.

WP1A: Identification and Isolation of Stem Cells - neural lineages
Leader: Austin Smith, University of Cambridge
See WP1A publications

WP1B: Identification and Isolation of Stem Cells - non-neural lineages
Leader: Shahragim Tajbakhsh, Institut Pasteur
See WP1B publications

WP2: Lineage Analysis and Differentiation Potential

Leader: Val Wilson, University of Edinburgh
Workpackage 2 aims to determine the normal routes a stem cell takes when differentiating into specialized cells and contributing to tissues. Analysing these lineages will highlight the intermediate cell types generated by stem cells, as well as their locations, migratory routes and cellular environments in normal individuals. This is an important source of information for the isolation, culture and differentiation of stem cells in the laboratory, and is therefore crucial if stem cells are to be used for stem cell regenerative therapies and drug discovery.
See WP2 publications

WP3: Self-renewal and Up-Scaling (for potential applications)
Leader: Tim Allsopp, Stem Cell Sciences UK Ltd
This workpackage aims to analyse the factors that control stem cell self-renewal (the ability of a stem cell to make copies of itself indefinitely) and use this information to define the conditions and procedures that will be required for the generation of expanded and clinically acceptable resources for cell therapies.
See WP3 publications

WP4: Control of Differentiation
Leaders: Claus Nerlov, EMBL; Ernest Arenas, Karolinska Institute
Workpackage 4 aims to develop tools that allow the reproducible generation of stem cell populations capable of efficient and directed differentiation into all the specialized cell types necessary for tissue repair.
See WP4 publications

Three workpackages investigate the application of stem cell therapies, using the cells generated in the 'fundamental' workpackages:

WP5: Applications in Neurological Disease
Leader: Oliver Brüstle, University of Bonn
Workpackage 5 will test the ability of transplanted stem cells and cell lines, generated in workpackages 1,3 and 4, and derived from endogenous neural stem cells, to differentiate into therapeutically relevant cell types for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, stroke and myelin diseases using animal models.
See WP5 publications

WP6: Applications in Muscle Repair and Neuromuscular Disease
Leader: Margaret Buckingham, Institut Pasteur
Workpackage 6 will test the ability of stem cells and cell lines, generated in the other workpackages, for their capacity to contribute to skeletal muscle, using mouse models for muscular dystrophy.
See WP6 publications

WP7: Epidermal Repair
Leader: Fiona Watt, Cancer Research UK
The goal of workpackage 7 is to use animal models to improve the techniques for grafting cultured epidermis and optimise the conditions for recreating hair follicles, sweat and sebaceous glands in the skin of human burns victims.
See WP7 publications

 

Flagship projects

FSP1: The Generation of Antibodies for Stem Cell Identification
Leader: John McCafferty, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
This project seeks to widen the range of antibodies available in stem cell community and characterise their utility for identifying sub-populations of cells during differentiation. The project will take advantage of existing efforts among partner institutions to generate antibodies and apply them to the stem cell research.
See FSP1 publications

FSP2: The Development of a Prototype European Stem Cell Database and Stem Cell Registry
Leader: Simon Tomlinson, University of Edinburgh
This project will establish a stem cell database (Stem DB) containing a wide range of information about stem cells - from basic biology to clinical applications. The data will be derived from new findings generated by the EuroStemCell consortium and existing published data.
See FSP2 publications

FSP3: A Forum for Ethics and Societal Issues Related to Stem Cell Research
Leader: Göran Hermerén, University of Lund
This project will consider a range of topical issues relating to stem cell research. The work will be presented in a series of workshops, involving participants from both EuroStemCell and the EU Framework 5 EuroStem ethics project.  The workshops will not only identify and analyse issues but also come up with suggestions as to how they are to be handled and relate these proposals to current regulations in various countries where the research is carried out.
See FSP3 publications

FSP4: Stem Cell Bioinformatics
Leader: Simon Tomlinson, University of Edinburgh
This project will facilitate comparative analysis of the stem cell molecular profiling data generated in the other EuroStemCell workpackages, and foster bioinformatics collaborations among different participating groups.
See FSP4 publications

FSP5: Clinical Roadmap
Leader: Olle Lindvall, Lund University
This project aims to generate a “roadmap to the clinic” - a statement on the steps necessary in developing clinical applications from stem cells. Clinicians, basic scientists, bioindustry representatives and ethicists will be engaged in this process through a series of workshops focused on neurological, neuromuscular and skin disorders - corresponding to the research activities in workpackages 5,6 and 7.
See FSP5 publications

FSP6: Public Engagement and Outreach
Leader: Clare Blackburn, University of Edinburgh
To create a climate of open and informed debate it is important that practising scientists are encouraged to participate in outreach activities, and are equipped with the necessary skillsets. EuroStemCell has dedicated considerable resource to developing a provocative, forward looking public engagement and outreach programme.
See FSP6 publications