Annual VANGUARD meeting held in Igls, Austria

Team members of the VANGUARD project travelled to Igls in Austria for the annual consortium meeting which was held on 22 January 2023. The full day meeting covered the research progress of all work packages in the first three years of the project, the next steps planned and enough time for lively discussions between representatives […]

Watch the VANGUARD project video online

During the annual VANGUARD project meeting 2022 held in Geneva, Switzerland we spoke to all project partners involved about the objectives of VANGUARD, their role within the project and the possible impact generating a vascularized and immune-protected bioartificial pancreas that can be transplanted into non-immuno-suppressed patients can have. The interview is now available online and […]

VANGUARD publication on Ethics of Early Clinical Trials of Bio-Artificial Organs available online

A new VANGUARD publication has recently been made available in Transplant International. Its name is “Ethics of Early Clinical Trials of Bio-Artificial Organs” and the publication outlines the ethical challenges addressed by Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam team. Although the social value of bio-artificial organs can be undoubtedly enormous, the VANGUARD project is also evaluating […]

VANGUARD consortium meeting in Geneva, CH

On June 3-4, the VANGUARD consortium finally met in person after two years of online meetings. The meeting, which took place at the Geneva University Hospital, was an important occasion to discuss the progress of the project and present the latest results of each Work Package. The UNIGE team also conducted a tour of its […]

VANGUARD Ethics Workshop

Bio-artificial organs and bio-engineered or bio-printed tissues for transplantation in humans are rapidly being developed. It is anticipated that some applications will be ready for clinical testing in the near future. How can first-in-human clinical trials be conducted in a safe and responsible manner? What are ethical points to consider for early clinical trials of […]

New publication on the generation of pre-vascularised organoids

The VANGUARD consortium recently published collaborative work in the journal Transplant International on the generation of pre-vascularised organoids. The authors from the University of Geneva and the University of Eastern Piedmont show that pre-vascularized islet organoids exhibit enhanced in vitro function compared to native islets, improved engraftment and accelerated vascularization in vivo in a murine […]

Research article: Efficient and safe correction of hemophilia A by lentiviral vector-transduced BOECs in an implantable device

A new VANGUARD research article on Efficient and safe correction of hemophilia A by lentiviral vector-transduced BOECs in an implantable device has been published in Molecular Therapy, Methods & Clinical Development. The full article can be read online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2021.10.015 Abstract: Hemophilia A (HA) is a rare bleeding disorder caused by deficiency/dysfunction of the FVIII protein. […]

VANGUARD presented at the SFT Congress

Our coordinator Dr Ekaterine Berishvili took a part in the 2021 Société Francophone de Transplantation to share the progress of the VANGUARD project.