Episode 18 – Scaling up organoids

Our speakers:

Dr Victoria Marsh Durban

Victoria was appointed CEO of Cellesce in January 2022, and has led the company through its’ recent acquisition by Molecular Devices, which completed at the end of 2022. Having originally joined Cellesce as Lead Scientist in 2019, she also held the role of Chief Operating Officer and was appointed to the Board of Directors in January 2021. Prior to Cellesce, Vicky held the role of Head of Cell Biology at ReNeuron.

Vicky completed her PhD.at Cardiff University in 2008 in the field of cancer genetics with a focus on models of gastrointestinal tract cancers. She subsequently moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where she held a post-doctoral research scholarship investigating targeted therapeutic approaches in malignant melanoma. In 2014 she returned to Cardiff to take up a Research Fellowship at the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute.

   Dr Magdalena Kasendra

Magdalena Kasendra is the Director of Research and Development at the Centre for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM). She leads a multifaceted effort to translate breakthrough discoveries in stem cell biology and organ development into innovative organoid-based solutions to address unmet medical needs. These include organoid-based platforms enabling discovery and development of safer and more efficient drugs, precision medicine applications and organoid-based tissue replacement therapies.

Prior to joining CuSTOM’s leadership team, she managed the multidisciplinary team responsible for developing, translating and commercialising Organs-on-Chips technology at Emulate Inc, a spin-off from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. This research has led to major advances in bioengineering of intestinal tissue by combining microchip manufacturing methods and organoid technology and demonstrated the utility of this platform in drug development, disease modelling and precision medicine.

Kasendra’s career spans industry, academia and the start-up world. She performed her PhD project at Novartis Vaccines and Development, which was followed by post-doctoral research fellowship at the Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. She has authored numerous publications and patents.