Partner institutions

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The Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Pharmacology of Neurodegenerative Disease is located in the INGM building within the University Hospital campus, and belongs to the Department of Bioscience, whose research interests are the organization and evolution of biodiversity, from single biomolecules, to the cellular, and organismal, level. This wide research interest and expertise has been the source for several on-going collaborations. The laboratory is also well connected to the major research Institutions in Europe and the United States of America working on the biomedical research field. The laboratory has a long-lasting reputation in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine for HD that demonstrates its commitment to the clinical development of a cell replacement therapy.
Lund University’s vision is to be a world-class university that works to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition. The Faculty of Medicine at Lund University is behind a large number of significant medical discoveries that have led to improved treatments methods, new drugs and better diagnostics. The Faculty of Medicine has established several creative environments and research excellence areas including in the fields of neurodegeneration, translational science, and stem cell based therapies. The division for developmental and regenerative neurobiology involved in this project, led by Malin Parmar, focuses to understand how to direct and efficiently drive controlled differentiation of human stem cells into subtype-specific neurons. The ultimate aim is to develop cells and technologies for use in brain repair, with focus on Parkinson’s disease. The staff in the division has expertise in developmental cell biology, cell culture, animal lesion models, transplantation techniques, and the division has access to several core facilities and technical platforms.
The Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology (IRN) at the University of Bonn Medical Centre (UKB) focuses on the use of pluripotent stem cells for the study and treatment of neurological disorders. Based on a broad technology portfolio including cell reprogramming, neural differentiation, direct cell fate conversion, stem cell industrialization and neurotransplantation, the institute develops stem cell-based model systems for disease-related research and novel cell therapy regimens. UKB is currently involved in the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2) project “Alzheimer’s Disease Apolipoprotein Pathology for Treatment Elucidation and Development” (ADAPTED) and the EU Horizon2020 Programme project “Comorbidity and Synapse Biology in Clinically Overlapping Psychiatric Disorders” (COSYN). It closely interacts with LIFE & BRAIN GmbH (also partner in this project), a translational hub of the University of Bonn providing stem cell products and services for pharma, biotech and academia.
The Karolinska Institutet is a Health Sciences University that was founded in 1810 and it is known worldwide for giving the Nobel price in Physiology or Medicine, since 1901. KI is one of the top universities in Europe, known worldwide for its research in neuroscience, stem cells and regenerative medicine. The team led by prof. Ernest Arenas, involved in this project focuses on the development of cell replacement strategies in animal models Parkinson’s disease, using genomic technologies to examine the transcriptome of the developing and adult midbrain at a single cell level, to examine the function of transcription factors in the development of midbrain dopaminergic cells, and to identify the cell types and factors required and sufficient for optimal differentiation, forward programming of hPSCs and reprogramming of astrocytes.
The University of Turin (UNITO) is deeply involved in scientific research and its long record of participation in the EU strategic research agenda results from several EU funded research projects, among which 33 coordinated projects, 4 ERC grants as host institution and 4 Research Infrastructure projects and many others.  UNITO-Department of Neuroscience (DNS) integrates biomedical and clinical research to study the physiopathology of the nervous system and has a long-established expertise on developmental processes of circuit formation and on rehabilitation strategies fostering neuronal adaptive changes. On these bases, UNITO-DNS will aim at repairing complex brain circuits, such as those affected in Huntington's disease with human stem-cell derived striatal neurons. The group led by Annalisa Buffo will study the maturation of such neurons upon grafting in rodent model of Huntington's disease, and work to promote their proper wiring in the damaged brain in view to restore the affected motor and cognitive functions. 
The John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair and the Neuroimmunology labs are within the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge (UCAM) which has both laboratory facilities and a clinical suite where patients with Parkinson’s disease are assessed as part of their routine clinical care as well research studies.. The Barker's group has a well established programme for making humanised mice and a long standing collaboration with the hospital to collect human fetal tissue with full ethical clearance
 
University of Copenhagen is the largest research and education institution in Scandinavia. The Faculty of Health alone has 1,600 PhD students and employs almost 1,800 researchers. Internationally, the University is highly competitive and the most recent Shanghai rankings placed UCPH as No. 30 worldwide and No. 6 in Europe. UCPH is currently involved in over 4,000 externally funded research projects. The Kirkeby group, Human Neural Development is located at the Department of Neuroscience (UCPH. The Kirkeby group is highly skilled in the use of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for modelling human brain development and for developing stem cell therapies for neurological diseases. The group will contribute to the project by developing next-generation cells for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia, and by testing new types of neurons in animal models of Pakinson’s Disease and cognitive decline. 
 
Cardiff University is a member of the Russell group of the leading research intensive British universities. Cardiff University has an international reputation for innovation and leadership in the biomedical sciences, molecular and clinical genetics, and stem cell biology, and is investing heavily in this area with the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI) opening in 2013 and a Medicinal Drug Development Institute in 2018. Cardiff University also host one of the five research centres of the UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI). More information on Meng Li's group at Cardiff University.
 
The Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU) is a research institution of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Free State of Bavaria. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers, the largest scientific organisation in Germany (39,000 employees in 19 research centres). As German Research Center for Environmental Health, HMGU pursues the goal of developing personalized medical approaches for the prevention and therapy of major common diseases, which develop from the interaction of lifestyle, environmental factors, and personal genetic background, such as diabetes mellitus, allergies and lung diseases. The organization provides leading technologies for mouse models, structural biology and epidemiology. More information on Magdalena Götz's group.
 
VIB is a Center of Excellence in life sciences in Flanders, Belgium with more than 1470 scientists form over 60 countries, and performs basic research into the molecular foundations of life. VIB develops and disseminates a wide range of science-based information about all aspects of biotechnology. One of the hallmarks of VIB is the entrepreneurship of its researchers and their aptitude for creative thinking with a focus on translating basic scientific results into pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications. VIB unites world-class researchers in teams and research centers that are embedded in five universities in Flanders: UGent, KU Leuven, UAntwerp, VUBrussels and UHasselt and is funded by the Flemish government. The the Center for Brain & Disease Research, involved in this project is embedded within VIB and KU Leuven. More information on Pierre Vanderhaegen's group.
 
Since its foundation in 1989 Miltenyi Biotec, has become one of Germany’s most successful biotechnology companies with currently 2800 employees worldwide. Miltenyi’s multidisciplinary R&D department is constantly developing novel reagents and instruments for use in immunology, cancer, neuroscience, stem cell and molecular biology. For technical support and overnight delivery of its products, Miltenyi has more than 30 sales offices and distributors in the leading industrial countries.  Miltenyi Biotec develops, produces and markets more than 15,000 state-of-the-art products and services focusing on sample preparation, cell separation, cell culture, flow cytometry, microscopy as well as clinical applications in the field of cell therapy.
LIFE&BRAIN GmbH, founded in 2002, is a biomedical enterprise located in Bonn, Germany. 
Its mission is to discover and develop novel strategies for the diagnosis and therapy of nervous 
system disorders. The company closely interacts with academic departments of the University of Bonn Medical Center. A key focus of LIFE&BRAIN is the development of human stem cell-based tools and automation technologies for disease modelling and drug discovery.
 
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with leadership in diabetes care, haemophilia, growth disorders and obesity. For two decades it has worked intensively to develop a stem cell-based therapy for type 1 diabetes and has recently increased commitment to stem cell-based therapies into other serious chronic diseases. NN’s R&D in this field is anchored in its recently established Stem Cell Transformational Research Unit, based in Måløv, Denmark, with more than 120 employees. The unit oversees multiple partnership projects pursuing stem cell-based treatments. Through partnerships with the Swedish biotech company Biolamina and Lund University, one NN program is focused on the development of stem cell-based therapies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.