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DR. NICO FORRAZ
The Daily Mail article
British scientists grow human liver in a laboratory said
British scientists have grown the world's first artificial liver from
stem cells created from blood taken from babies' umbilical cords
in a breakthrough that will one day provide entire organs
for transplant.
Already used to treat leukaemia, more than 11,000 British parents have
so far chosen to freeze their children's cord blood in a dozen
such banks
around the UK.
Coresearcher Dr Nico Forraz said: "Our dream is that every
metropolitan city would have such a bank.
"If you could type the blood, all you would have to do is dial it
up on
your computer and fly it from Bristol to Newcastle or even Newcastle to
Kuala Lumpur."
Illustration courtesy
Daily Mail
Nico Forraz, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D. is Clinical Sciences Business
Manager
and Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Cord Blood,
School of Clinical and Laboratory Sciences,
Faculty of Medical Sciences,
North East England Stem Cell Institute,
Newcastle University.
Nico earned a Diploma in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1996
at the University of Lyon, France. He further graduated from Kingston
University in London, UK with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences with First
Class Honors in 1998.
He completed his PhD in 2003 at Kingston University and St
George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK. Under the
mentorship of Professor
Colin McGuckin, he investigated the
Multi-Tissue Differentiation Potential of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem
Cell Populations with applications to Haematology, Oncology, Tissue
Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. From 2003 to 2004, Nico
carried out a postdoctoral research project at St George's Hospital
Medical School, London, UK, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, on
the intrinsic genetic regulation of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell and
Malignant Cell development by the HOX transcription factor
family.
In 2004-2005, Nico worked as a Senior Researcher in the Stem Cell
Therapy Programme directed by Professor McGuckin at Kingston
University. In 2004-2005, he was funded by the British Department of
Trade and Industry to promote research links and business activities in
the field of Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Bio-Engineering, Space
Medicine and Oncology with Research Institutions in Texas,
USA.
He has worked in the field of Stem Cell research since 1999 and
was recently appointed as a Senior Research Associate in Professor
McGuckin's Regenerative Medicine research group; the world's first to
characterize a harvesting and culture strategy to produce
Embryonic
Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord Blood to develop innovative
clinical applications
from Umbilical Cord Blood for Tissue Engineering, Cellular Therapies
and Regenerative Medicine.
Nico is also the Clinical Sciences Business Manager for Professor
McGuckin's research group coordinating collaborations between with
several Biotechnology Corporations internationally for product research
and development and quality control. He received the Creative
Pioneer Programme award in 2006, for his joint work with Professor
McGuckin, by the British
National Endowment for Science, Technology and
the Arts (NESTA) providing Business Development support and
training
for commercialization.
He and Professor McGuckin are cofounders and directors of
ConoStem Ltd., a biotechnology company developing 3-dimensional
human
tissue constructs from cord blood stem cells to advance drug discovery
and clinical applications. ConoStem won the North East Universities
Science and Technology Blueprint Business Plan Award
2006.
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