Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology is a versatile approach. This talk will cover both a novel Organoid model capturing key aspects of early heart development in vitro and advanced hPSCs bioprocessing in stirred tank bioreactors (STBR) including directed differentiation into specific lineages in particular hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes as well as potential strategies for their clinical translation by functional testing in preclinical animal models.

Robert is a developmental biologist and received training in stem cell research and bioprocessing in academia and in biotechnology companies in Germany and in Singapore. Since 2009, he is Principal Investigator at the Research Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine (REBIRTH) at Hannover Medical School. His group aims at adapting stirred tank bioreactor technologies for the efficient production of hPSC and their progenies to promote the clinical translation of advanced cell therapies. Moreover, he is investigating basic mechanisms of mesendodermal priming, differentiation, and formation of novel Heart Forming Organoids, to provide complex in vitro models on aspects of human development and pathology.