In his new role Professor McGuckin will be responsible for integrating new scientific technologies and keeping Cryo-Save’s storage services at the leading edge.
Professor McGuckin is a stem cell pioneer who developed the first “mini-liver” from human umbilical cord blood. His team has gone on to develop cord blood cells into many other human tissues, including nervous tissue and blood vessels amongst others. Recently his team has created artificial “pancreatic islets” - producers of insulin impaired in diabetic patients, which may have major implications for the development of stem cells for the treatment of diabetes.
In a recent interview, Professor McGuckin stated: “My vocation is to treat patients with umbilical cord blood. I believe that Cryo-Save, with their innovative and responsible program for storing cord blood will help us achieve this goal faster and for more patients on an international scale. The speed that stem cell treatments are being developed now requires that we plan for the future healthcare needs of our nations.”
Rob Koremans, CEO of Cryo-Save, said: “Gaining such a tremendous scientific know how will help sustain our financial security and contributions to patients. Prof. McGuckin’s recruitment is an auxiliary step in our efforts to put Cryo-Save at the forefront of the global stem cell market place”.
Working in stem cells for over 20 years, Professor McGuckin is an opinion leader who has been called upon by governments and hospitals around the world, including the US Senate, the United Nations (Geneva) and the Parliaments of France, UK, Austria and Germany. Colin McGuckin is also President of the Novus Sanguis Consortium, which was launched in 2008 under the patronage of the President of the European Parliament. Novus Sanguis brings together leading adult stem cell researchers and clinicians from across the world to work on specific diseases of the human condition, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and organ regeneration.
About Cryo-Save
Cryo-Save is Europe’s Leading Stem Cell Bank. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company conducts fundamental research in the field of cryopreservation techniques for stem cells. The research is done in partnership with five European universities and the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) and is part of an EU funded project CRYSTAL. The stem cell banking services of Cryo-Save are available in 38 countries across three continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa). The company offers a private-shared banking service in Italy and will start to introduce this in other countries after regulatory clearance.