2023 MRM Talks: Patient representative Karen Peat and Prof. Corinne Hoesli
The MRM Network presents: the MRM Talks. Join us to learn more about stem cells and regenerative medicine. Our webinar series will showcase prominent scientists in the field, including MRM Principal Investigators and external guest speakers.
In this edition of the MRM Talks:
In this special edition of the MRM Talks, we have the privilege to welcome Patient Representative Karen Peat who took part in a stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes. She will be joined by Prof. Corinne Hoesli, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McGill, whose main areas of application of her research are diabetes cellular therapy.
Karen Peat,
Patient Representative
Prof. Corinne Hoesli, ing., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University
Canada Research Chair in Cellular Therapy Bioprocess Engineering
“Biomanufacturing stem cell-derived islets to treat type 1 diabetes”
THURSDAY, September 28, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 PM
VIRTUAL
Missed the presentation? You can catch up on our Youtube Channel.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Karen Peat:
I was told by my endocrinologist that I would not live to see my children graduate from High School.
You see, could no longer tell when my blood sugar was dropping dangerously low. To understand how I came to be in this situation, we need to jump back 12 years in time. In the second trimester of my third pregnancy, after a day of extreme nausea, I lay down for a nap.
I woke up a month later, with a short-term memory disability. My hopes for any career or driving were painfully abandoned. So, I focused my attention on raising my children and creating a place where their friends were always welcome.
11 years later, we learned about the Edmonton Protocol and a year later I received the islets of Langerhans transplant, the best Christmas gift we could imagine. The Edmonton protocol is but one example of life-changing research.
Because of research like yours, I have celebrated with pride my children’s graduations, held and hugged my grandchildren, and danced at my children’s weddings. Camped and played with grandchildren. Savored live symphonies, walked my husky, hiked and had so many other life-giving experiences.
Doug and I have now been married for 36 years and despite all the challenges we have faced, are still holding hands.
Prof. Corinne Hoesli is the head of the Stem Cell Bioprocessing Laboratory at McGill University. She is co-director of the Quebec Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapy Network – ThéCell, and a member of the McGill Regenerative Medicine network executive committee. She is a biochemical engineer with expertise in bioprocess development, stem cell culture optimization and encapsulation device engineering. Her research aims to develop bioprocesses to produce and transplant therapeutic cells to treat diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Her laboratory studies how cell culture materials impact stem cell and progenitor cell differentiation into useful therapeutic products. To biomanufacture cell-based products at scale, she works with companies and organizations such as the Canadian National Research Council to tailor bioreactor design and operation parameters. To improve cell survival after transplantation, her laboratory is developing vascular biomaterials and 3D printing methods to create vascularized tissues. Over the past 5 years, Prof. Hoesli and her team have published over 20 articles in leading bioprocess engineering journals, as well as several patents related to cell culture materials and transplantation devices. Her emerging leadership in bioengineering was recognized through the 2014 Martin Sinacore Outstanding Young Investigator Award from Engineering Conferences International & Biogen Idec, as well as the 2019 “Étoiles effervescence” award from Montreal InVivo.
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