Kourosh Saeb-Parsy is part of a broad network local and national translational and multi-disciplinary academic collaborations focused on the in vivo function and immunogenicity of stem cells. He has long-standing collaborations in Cambridge with Prof Ludovic Vallier from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Dr Meritxell Huch from the Gurdon Institute, focused on regenerative cellular therapies derived from induced pluripotent stem cells and adult tissue for the treatment of diabetes and liver disease.
He is the Principal Investigator for the BETA-Protect collaboration which brings together investigators from Cambridge, London, Oxford, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Newcastle to investigate the immunogenicity of regenerative cellular therapies for the treatment of type I diabetes and to optimize personalized immunotherapies to prevent their rejection.
He is a co-investigator in the LSFM4LIFE European Consortium which aims to develop and optimize a promising regenerative cellular therapy for type I diabetes derived from adult pancreas tissue.
He is part of a multidisciplinary collaboration with Prof Nigel Slater from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology in Cambridge to investigate a novel method for the cryopreservation of human haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and cellular aggregates, including pancreatic islets in collaboration with Mr John Casey from the Scottish Islet Laboratory.
Much of his research programme in regenerative medicine is underpinned by the use of human HSCs, including in collaboration with Dr Elisa Laurenti from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. A particular focus of his group is using human HSCs for the creation and characterization of experimental models of the human immune compartment, also known as ‘humanised mice’. He is the co-founder and coordinator of the annual UK Humanized Mouse Symposium which aims to share expertise and encourage collaborations focused on the characterization and use of this important experimental model.
Kourosh Saeb-Parsy has established the Cambridge In Vivo Assessment Platform to assist collaborators with rapid and efficient in vivo translation of innovative human laboratory research.
