Admission requirements
Participants are expected to possess knowledge of stem cell biology, cellular and molecular biology at BSc level. Reading material and a general induction will be given to ensure the basics of stem cell biology are covered.
Description
This Caput series focuses on the upcoming revolution of cell therapy. Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) is a historical innovation in pharmacology, biotech, and medicine, made of permanently modifying living cells. Principle types of stem cell biology and ATMPs will be introduced, including stem cell based therapy for neurodegeneration, gene therapy for inborne disease, and CRISPR-CAS for muscular dystrophy. Selected topics will be introduced by the course coordinator, and talks will be given by external expert speakers. Students will give seminar presentations in conjunctions to expert talks, and present a poster in mini symposium at courses’ end.
Course objectives
This course aims is to provid knowledge on types of ATMPs, and emerging issues in their clinical applications. An emphasis will be given to biological narrative, conceptual design of proposed therapies, and discussion will revolve around scientific justification, risk, quality, clinical outcomes and cost. Attention is paid to biological mechanisms of production, e.g. reprogramming of iPSCs and cellular differentiation illustrated with specific examples from tissues, e.g. pancreatic islet cell therapies for diabetes.
Final qualifications:
Participants understand primary classes of ATMPs and their modes of clinical applications. They understand mechanisms of stem cell differentiation (gene expression, chromatin, signaling cascades), and key techniques used to manufacture cell and gene therapies. They have state-of–the-art in-depth knowledge about specific examples of cell therapies entering the clinic in cancer and degenerative disease.
Timetable
This course is scheduled in semester 2, period 3 and 4.
A detailed schedule of the course will be published on the Brightspace course module.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, reading, and discussion of articles and presentations
Assessment method
A seminar given by students on selected topics, participation in discussion, and posters
Reading list
Will be provided.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Coordinator: Prof. M. Drukker (m.drukker@lacdr.leidenuniv.nl).
Remarks
Minimum number of participants: 12
Topic 1. Micha – Introduction somatic and pluripotent stem cell therapies
Topic 2. Melissa van Pel – Introduction manufacturing cell therapies; students MSC treatment
Topic 3. Peter von dem Borne – Somatic bone marrow stem cell therapy; students HSC purification
Topic 4. Niels Geijsen – Introduction genetic editing in (pre)clinical settings; students crispr therapeutics
Topic 5. Ejone Rusha – induced pluripotent stem cell manufacturing; students HLA stem cell immune matching and immunosuppression
Topic 6. Françoise Carlotti – PSC-Islet differentiation; students PSC-beta cell transplantation outcomes
Topic 7. Sebastian Knöbel - PSC-dopaminergic neuron differentiation; students PSC-dopaminergic neuron trial outcomes;
Topic 8. – CART cells; students clinical trials outcomes
Topic 9. Tineke van den Hoorn – ATMP assessment; students risk assessment in PSC therapy
Topic 10. Patient – 1st hand experience somatic stem cell therapy; students health cost reimbursement strategies for cell therapy
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.