Amin Ahmad
Doctoral fellow – Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy – Department of Pharmaceutics – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Ghent University
Principal investigator: prof. Kevin Braeckmans (PhD)
Research focus
Although CAR-T cell therapy represents a new revolutionary pillar in the treatment of cancer, the production of CAR-T cells is a long, complex and costly process reducing both the quality and accessibility to the therapy. To overcome these challenges, my research aims to engineer induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using a novel method termed photoporation, which can improve production rates and result in therapeutic cells of better quality in comparison to state-of-the-art transfection techniques. The CAR+ engineered iPSCs will then be differentiated into CAR-T cells to serve as a nearly unlimited source of allogeneic CAR-T cells.
Biography
Amin Ahmad started with a bachelor in physics at Université Catholique de Louvain in 2017. In 2020, he continued with a Master's degree in Biophysics, Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which he obtained in July 2022 with his master’s thesis entitled "Smart 3D cell culture platforms for electrogenic cells". After a 6 months break, he joined the laboratory for general biochemistry and physical pharmacy in February 2023 to start his PhD entitled "Engineering of universal iPSC-derived therapeutic cells by nanofiber photoporation".
Contact & links
- Lab address: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent
- Lab for general biochemistry and physical pharmacy
- Novistem
- Amin Ahmad is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks