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Description: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been a standard therapy for many malignant and non-malignant diseases. Unfortunately, disease relapse still occurs in some patients and graft-vs-host disease continues to be a life threatening complication.

To improve the efficacy of HSCT, lab based cell-depletion strategies are necessary.  Novel cellular therapies are being explored; mesenchymal stromal cells, chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-Ts), and virus-specific T cells that aim to improve transplant outcomes and the lives of patients. 

This presentation will discuss HSCT and recent advances and regulations of cellular therapies.  It will show how these new clinical applications are challenging the role of the medical laboratory technologist in the processing lab.

Start date: Upon registration

Completion: Up to 52 weeks

Learning Objectives

• To educate you about stem cells and cellular therapy
• To show you current cell therapy applications, and challenges for the role of the Medical Laboratory Technologist in the processing lab
• To inform you of the new emerging technologies and future directions in regenerative medicine and immunotherapy

Speakers: Angeline Giftakis, BA, MLT and Dr. Qingdong Guan, PhD

Angeline Giftakis received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba, followed by the Medical Laboratory Technologist CSMLS certification in 1996.  She has a unique 20+ year history working in the Cell Therapy Lab, Manitoba Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, CancerCare Manitoba, and presently is the Charge Technologist.   She is active in the Cell Therapy Transplant Canada (CTTC) organization’s Laboratory Group, striving to improve and standardize lab best practices with focus on technical and regulatory issues in the laboratory.

Dr. Guan is the Processing Facility Director of Cellular Therapy Laboratory, CancerCare Manitoba, and Manitoba Centre for Advanced Cell and Tissue Therapy. He finished his medical doctor training in 2001, MSc training in Immunology in 2004 in China, and PhD training at Dept of Immunology, University of Manitoba in 2012. Dr. Guan’s research focuses on therapeutic roles of immune regulatory cells in asthma, autoimmune diseases, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and development of therapeutic vaccines. Dr. Guan was involved in the first Canadian clinical trial studying ability of mesenchymal stem cells to treat multiple sclerosis.

Recorded: June 2, 2020

PEP hours: 1.0

CPS credits: 0

*Note: PEP hours and/or CPS credits will only be awarded upon successful completion of the quiz.