Departments
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Genome Science and Technology Graduate Program
- School of Biomedical Engineering
Professional Profile
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989, Sc.D.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986, S.M.
- Harvard College, 1981, A.B.
Research Area
Many recent developments in biological and medical research have greatly expanded the prospects for regenerative medicine. Cell-based therapies can provide improved treatments for major diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
In collaboration with stem cell and immune cell biologists (Drs. Kieffer and Levings), we are investigating how to more efficiently optimize therapeutic cell bioprocesses. This includes optimizing the complex cytokine effects, as well as developing innovative devices, processes and data analytics technologies (Drs. Turner and Gopaluni). Mammalian cells are already widely used for the production of therapeutic proteins in the biotechnology industry. In collaboration with companies we are investigating cellular physiology and engineering approaches to better understand and accelerate the development of biotechnology production processes and cell processing devices.
The group research topics range from engineering cells to bioprocess engineering. Our multi-disciplinary, collaborative research projects and the many advantages of the Vancouver location provide an exceptional research environment. Our lab welcomes highly motivated applicants who are interested to pursue high-performance graduate or postdoctoral research.
Katherine MacDonald is a current student in the Piret/Levings lab. Learn more about her work.
Publications
To view the latest publications from the Piret lab, please visit Google Scholar.
Research Keywords
Biotechnology, gene/cell therapy manufacturing, clinical translation, bioengineering, biochemistry, biological imaging, biomaterials engineering, computational modeling and regenerative medicine
MEDTalks | Cellular and Gene Therapies – Talk by Alina Kunitskaya
For the full webinar recording, visit the UBC Faculty of Medicine Alumni Engagement website.