The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) announced in a Sept. 17, 2018 press release that a four-year doctoral training and research program focusing on enhancing upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process development through single-cell analysis would be led by its one of its researchers, Dr. Colin Clarke. The competitive European Industrial Doctorate (EID) program is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program of Horizon 2020. Clarke ‘s team will collaborate with scientists across Europe in the €2.9 million (USD 3.4 million) project, which will begin in 2019.

Overcoming the inherent heterogeneity of cells grown in vitroto deliver effective, uniform, and safe biological medicines is one of the most significant challenges faced by the industry today, according to the press release. The STACCATO research program will develop single-cell analysis methods to characterize the molecular heterogeneity of cell populations used in the biopharmaceutical industry.

“We’re delighted that Colin will lead this program to develop the next generation of early-stage researchers. A key feature of STACCATO is collaboration amongst experts in the production of different biopharmaceuticals which provide highly encouraging clinical outcomes,” said Dominic Carolan, NIBRT CEO, in the release.

Source: NIBRT