Lisa Willemse
Lisa is a science communicator with 15+ years' experience in the fields of regenerative medicine, child development and technology. She launched this blog (first as the Stem Cell Network Blog) in 2009, and served as co-editor until April 2015. She is currently the Director, Communications & Public Affairs for the Stem Cell Network, and has contributed to Motherboard, Science Borealis and the Genome Alberta and Canadian Blood Services blogs. Follow her on Twitter and Medium @WillemseLA.
Posts by: Lisa
Toronto team tackling unmet need in cell manufacturing using synthetic biology
It’s no secret that biology is unpredictable, random and sometimes messy. This is precisely what gives living organisms their singularity and uncanny ability to adapt. But as important as these traits might be in a herd of elephants as they adapt to climate change or human encroachment, they are not always so desirable in the […]
Medicine by Design-funded researchers devise new strategy to improve the safety of cell therapies
Please click here to read the original version of the article that first appeared on Medicine by Design’s site and is reprinted with permission. The article has been edited slightly for length. A contagious facial cancer that has ravaged Tasmanian devils in southern Australia may not appear at first glance to hold the key to advancing cell […]
Right Turn: These three videos show why we should be impressed by our young stem cell researchers
Stroke, lung damage and mathematical modeling. You may not think these three topics have much in common and for the most part you’d be right. But they have more than one common link. First, each is either a disease focus or methodology within stem cell research. Secondly, each subject –biomaterials to aid stem cell engraftment […]
Stem cells as the road to repairing Multiple Sclerosis
. A clinical trial set to begin this month in Ottawa will test the safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells to stimulate repair of damaged nerves in MS patients. This article was published simultaneously on the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine website. On any given day at the general campus of The Ottawa Hospital, […]
Right Turn: “Comic” twist on CRISPR
There’s nothing really funny about the patent debate on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. It’s been a contentious and expensive court battle, that has thankfully steered clear of mud-slinging (mostly). Which is good, since there’s more than enough of that in the U.S. these days, thanks to the Donald. For those who have followed the CRISPR patent […]