On 7 September 2022 some of PREMSTEM’s young investigators gave presentations in an internal event taking place as part of the 2022 annual meeting in Utrecht. The speakers were:
Ezgi Şengün, PhD candidate at Radboudumc: Immunomodulatory effect of H-MSCs on both innate and adaptive immune cells. Ezgi has been studying the influence of the stem cells on T cell function and phenotype.
Marta Tiffany Lombardo, PhD candidate at IN-CNR: Iron-fed microglia: An in vitro model of replicative senescence. Marta’s research into this topic is important for the study of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, but also perinatal inflammation that occurs in babies born preterm.
Judit Alhama Riba, PhD candidate at UMCU: Validation of the RUPP model and preliminary data. Judit’s using the Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure (RUPP) Model of pre-eclampsia- one of the leading causes of preterm birth – in a small animal model.
Meray Serdar, postdoctoral researcher at Universitätsklinikum Essen: Analysis of the therapeutic potential of H-MSCs on preterm brain injury in an experimental model of maternal inflammation combined with a postnatal hyperoxia. Meray described the effect of hyperoxia induced hypermyelination on different cells such as neurons and oligodendrocytes.
Chantal Kosmeijer, PhD candidate at UMCU: Determining the optimal dose and timing of H-MSC therapy in the FIPH rat model for EoP. Chantal has recently completed experiments looking at the optimal dose of stem cells and timing of administering them in a small animal model of preterm birth-associated brain injury.
Valéry van Bruggen, PhD candidate at Maastricht University: In-vivo neurocognitive assessment in preterm sheep. Valéry is investigating the effect of stem cell therapy on neurodevelopment and cognition of preterm born sheep by setting up different tests for behavioural and mobility analysis.
Solène Ruinet, PhD candidate at Physics for Medicine Paris (INSERM U1273): Ultrasound multiparametric imaging of neuroinflammation. Solène’s using ultrafast ultrasound in her PhD to image inflammation in the brain at a high resolution and detail.
Flora Faure, PhD candidate at Physics for Medicine Paris (INSERM U1273): Functional ultrasound imaging of the neonatal brain. Flora talked about this imaging technique being used in PREMSTEM with the Iconeus One machine.
Cindy Bokobza, postdoctoral researcher at Inserm: Evaluation of early aging following perinatal inflammation-driven encephalopathy of prematurity in a mouse model. Cindy introduced her new project which is investigating a link between being born preterm and an accelerated aging process.
PREMSTEM’s young investigators have met several times online since the project started, but this session was significant for being the first opportunity to hear about each other’s research and get to know each other in person.
“It was a pleasure to meet our colleagues of the PREMSTEM project!” said Marta. “We’ve been working together for two years, but because of the pandemic, we hadn’t met yet. We spent beautiful time together and talked about our projects. Exciting!”
Photo credits: Sebastiaan Corstjens
