Abstract

One of the major challenges in cell based therapies is characterizing cellular preparations. Often marker based characterization is an easy assay where the information is available in real time. Such assays can also be precursors to functional assays.

The current definition for MSCs is a minimal definition that applies to MSCs  from different tissues. However MSCs from different tissues or cultured under different conditions are biologically heterogeneous even while they satisfy the minimal definition of MSCs. In a recent publication, we have outlined the need for an MSC reference standard towards developing quality metrics for MSCs (Tanavde, Cytotherapy 2015).

In this talk, I will discuss the concept of a reference standard for MSCs, potential candidates for such a standard, the appropriate ways to use this standard and data warehousing and sharing for cellular therapy.

 

Dr. Vivek Tanavde is currently a Principal Investigator at the Bioinformatics Institute, A*STAR. Prior to joining BII, he was heading the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Lab at Reliance Life Sciences, Mumbai where his work focused on developing mesenchymal stromal cell based therapies for cardiac and neuronal disorders. In addition, he also set up and managed the clinical flow cytometry laboratory at Reliance Life Sciences. From 1999 to 2002 he was a post doctoral fellow with Dr. Curt Civin at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Centre, Johns Hopkins University working on expansion of hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood. Dr. Tanavde obtained his Ph.D from the Cancer Research Institute, Mumbai (1999) in Applied Biology. He is currently the Secretary of the Stem Cell Society Singapore & serves on the Live Education Task Force of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC). He also holds an adjunct appointment at the Institute for Medical Biology (IMB), A*STAR.