Hub researchers unveil more about their research activities in a webinar
Advanced Therapeutics Hub members came together to deliver a webinar showcasing the Hub vision and outlining details of the engineering biology research program and planned activities.
The Hub went live on 9th June 2025 to showcase our mission of harnessing engineering biology for safer and more effective gene therapies.
Our host, Tom Pearson from BBSRC, introduced the UKRI Engineering Biology Mission Hubs program and provided context for our Hub's feature in a six-part series.
Prof. Susan Rosser (University of Edinburgh), academic director for our Hub provided valuable context on the need to develop tools for use in advanced therapeutics to enable therapies to be safely and effectively delivered to patients.
The webinar then delved into the hub's approaches and plans, presented by Prof. Jane Calvert (University of Edinburgh), Prof. Susan Rosser, Prof. Sandy Douglas (University of Oxford), and Prof. Mark Isalan (Imperial College London).
They explained how engineering biology enables technological advances for precise and controlled treatment delivery, while also highlighting the Hub's unique approach to exploring the social, political, and ethical implications of its research.
They also explained how the hub will develop tools to deliver therapies to the right place, at the right time, and in the right location, using improved delivery systems and RNA-based gene switches.
It was followed by example applications of our research across the three Hub focus areas.
Prof. Steve Pollard talked about how this research is being applied to improving outcomes for patients with brain cancer and other solid tumours such as pancreatic cancer.
Prof. Giovanni Stracquadanio explained how his lab is applying this for novel therapeutic options for patient suffering from lysosomal disease storage disorders (rare disease).
Dr. Alice Barrier featured work from Prof. Andy Baker’s lab on using gene therapies to improve outcomes for patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery.
Dr. Alice Barrier concluded the webinar on our Hub commitment to translate our research into tangible healthcare applications as well as why we’re eager to connect and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to widen patient access to advanced therapeutics.
