Scientific advisory board

Aurélien Lathuilière is a neurologist and neuroscientist at the Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva in Switzerland. He is an expert in the field of continuous protein delivery using macroencapsulated cell technology. He obtained his PhD from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in the group of Patrick Aebischer, who pioneered the field of cell encapsulation. He has a strong interest in monoclonal antibody delivery.

• He is a board-certified neurologist and former Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School fellow.

• He is an author of multiple publications related to cell encapsulation

• He has designed and generated numerous cell lines and encapsulation devices for both preclinical and clinical testing

Aurore Dumond is a project leader at the European Diabetes Centre and works on inter-organ communication and its implication in diabetes and related metabolic diseases. Aurore Dumond specialises in translational research with the aim of developing therapies for the clinic.

• With a degree in chemical engineering and a PhD in therapeutic research in the field of biology, her main objective is to develop new therapies targeting diseases for which no option of treatment or for which the response rate of patients is low.
• During her PhD in oncology at the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, she worked on the development of therapies for clear cell kidney cancer, in particular using cell and molecular biology techniques.
• Since her PhD in 2020, Aurore has been working at the European Centre for the Study of Diabetes and one of her main research topics is diabetes-related non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD).

Philippe Lavalle is an expert in the field of materials for health and more particularly biomaterials. His research focuses on surface modifications by antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and/or antiviral coatings based on biopolymers. Materials designed with natural components (proteins, peptides…) and using biomimicry approaches are also at the heart of his research.

• Since 2013, he is Deputy Director of the Inserm Unit “Biomaterials and Bioengineering”.
• CSO and Founder of SPARTHA Medical in 2019, a company dedicated to the production of custom antimicrobial coatings.
• Member of the management committee of the Carnot MICA Institute

Raphaël Pesci has expertise in the field of materials science and mechanical characterization, including multi-scale analysis with 3D reconstruction and modelling of materials behaviour relating to the temperature, strain rate and flow stress. Since 2009, he has been working on the mechanical properties and the reliability of medical devices including prosthetic solutions with optimized architecture for titanium implants and porous membranes for MailPan®.

• He defended his PhD Mechanics & Materials in 2004 (ENSAM, Metz, France) and is now Assistant Professor with research in LEM3 laboratory (CNRS).
• Fifteen-year experience as manager for national/European scientific or industrial projects.
• With the OSEO innovation award, he founded Micromecha, a company capable of designing and supplying a full range of technological solutions for the microtesting sector.

Wim P Ceelen graduated as a medical doctor in 1992 at Ghent University (Belgium) and later obtained his PhD at the same university with a doctoral thesis entitled ‘Neoadjuvant multimodal therapy in rectal cancer’. Currently, he is a staff surgeon in the department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Ghent University Hospital and was appointed in 2010 as professor of Surgical Oncology at Ghent University. He is an investigator with the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) and leads the Laboratory of Experimental Surgery at Ghent University.

• His clinical interests include surgical oncology of the digestive tract, treatment of peritoneal metastases, and retroperitoneal sarcoma.
• His experimental research focuses on tumor physiology and biophysics, functional imaging of cancer, and novel approaches to intraperitoneal drug delivery.
• He has edited three books in his field, (co)authored over 240 PubMed cited publications, and has an h index of 49.

ResearchGate profile

Lab page (Dutch)

LinkedIn

Twitter: @WimCeelen

Paul Johnson is a world expert in pancreatic islet transplantation. He has an innovative clinical vision of diabetes cell therapy, leading a ‘bench to bedside’ research program that places the patient at the center of development of Defymed medical devices.

• Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Pancreatic Islet Transplant Program; founding member of the UK Islet Transplant Consortium (UKITC) -the first fully-funded national islet program
• Chair of the NHS UK Islet Transplant Steering Group and Former President of IPITA (International Pancreas & Islet Transplant Association)
• International opinion leader in pancreatic islet isolation and islet transplantation

Nathalie Jeandidier is one of a group of people who are particularly interested in the intraperitoneal delivery of insulin for the physiological regulation of blood glucose in diabetic patients. This is why her support and experience are highly valued in the development of Defymed’s medical devices.

• Professor of endocrinology, diabetes, metabolic diseases at the University of Strasbourg
• More than twenty years of experience in the intraperitoneal delivery of insulin (peritoneal insulin infusion, implantable pumps, pumps –sensors, artificial pancreas, islet transplants)
• Having been a member of the CEED since 2005, Nathalie was also president of the EVADIAC association (assessment of the active implant treatment of diabetes patients using active implants) between 2009 and 2012 and is currently the president of the scientific committee

Katja Schenke-Layland is an expert in stem cell and extracellular matrix biology as well as diagnostic tool development. One of her main research interests revolves around the role of the extracellular matrix in the establishment of patient-derived three-dimensional in vitro models for functional testing of compounds or medical devices such as the Defymed medical device.

• Professor of Medical Technologies and Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Women’s Health at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany
• Director of the Natural and Medical Sciences Institute (NMI) Reutlingen at the University of Tübingen, Germany
• Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Cardiology at the University of California in Los Angeles, USA
• Executive editor for Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Tissue Engineering
• Member of the German Central Ethics Committee for Stem Cell Research

Eckhard Wolf studied Veterinary Medicine at the LMU Munich, Germany (1982-87).

• Since 1995 he is Head of the Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, since 2003 Director of the Laboratory for Functional Genome Analysis (LAFUGA), and since 2014 Director of the Center for Innovative Medical Models (CIMM), LMU Munich.
• His lab is specialized in the generation and characterization of genetically engineered pigs as models for human diseases (diabetes mellitus, rare monogenic diseases) and as organ donors for xenotransplantation.
• Eckhard Wolf is Speaker of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center “Biology of xenogeneic cell, tissue and organ transplantation – from bench to bedside” funded by the German Research Council.
• He is Member of the German National Academy of Sciences – Leopoldina (since 2000) and Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (since 2014).

Michel Vix is a specialist in gastrointestinal surgery for setting up and validating the surgical procedures used when implanting Defymed’s medical devices.

• Digestive, endocrine and bariatric surgeon at the University Hospitals of Strasbourg
• Joint scientific director of the IRCAD/EITS
• As an opinion leader in bariatric and metabolic surgery, Michel is part of the scientific board of several companies
• Took part in the project on “experimental, interfacial, analyses, retrieval and clinical follow-up studies of implants and medical devices” with Professor Stig Karlsson

Arnaud Scherberich has expertise in the biology and therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells for regenerative surgery applications. His research involves the development of perfusion bioreactor-based models and the generation of pre-vascularized tissue grafts and devitalized engineered tissue matrices for therapeutic purposes, primarily in the context of bone regeneration.

• He has completed his PhD in Pharmacology in December 1999 at the University of Strasbourg (France)
• Since 2007, he is leading a biomedical engineering research team at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
• Among many commitments, Arnaud is an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Swiss Society for Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine (SSB+RM).

Jérôme GLORIOD contributes his expertise in the design, design transfer and manufacture of Defymed’s medical devices.
• Jérôme has graduated as a biomedical engineer from the ISIFC of Besançon and has a DUT in mechanics
• Jérôme is now R&D manager at STATICE INNOVATION
• He has several years of experience as a project manager in the development of innovative medical devices using biomaterials, as silicone elastomer, plastics, metals, nitinol…

Arnaud Coudreuse gives guidance to Defymed in choosing the right materials and methods for enhancing the performance of its medical devices.

• Arnaud has been working in CTTM for more than 25 years as a material expert. His area of expertise is polymer materials and surface treatments.
• Arnaud was part of the original BARP+ project at CTTM which led to the realization of the first prototype of MailPan®
• Arnaud has graduated at the Le Mans – Université du Maine and has a DEA in condensed matter physics