People

Gabriele Cantanhede

Dr. Gabriel Cantanhede, MBBS MSc

Industrial Partners: QIAGEN and Cellix

Keywords: HLA; Monoclonal Antibody; Kidney Rejection; Cell Signalling

I am physician and a scientist, reading towards a PhD in immunology and kidney transplantation. For over 5 years, I have been involved with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, right at the intersection between product development and clinical sciences. My PhD project focuses on the role of HLA antibodies in endothelial cell activation and chronic kidney rejection. I have worked in the UK, Germany and Switzerland as a Clinical Research Fellow and in medical advisory capacity.

Professionally, I have provided medical and strategic support for the pharma and in-vitro diagnostics industry in a variety of landscapes and geographies, with special focus to the development of new in-vitro diagnostics platforms. My goal is to design high quality and thought-leading research, which is accountable for investment performance, with strategic client-driven decision making. I wish to serve as a bridge between industry, academia and clinical sciences, working as an advisor and facilitating liaison between key opinion leaders and healthcare professionals.

For the past two years, we have partnered with QIAGEN and Cellix to meet common scientific and academic goals through POSAT. This platform offered me the chance to spend 4 months at these institutions and pursue state-of-the art in-vitro diagnostics and translational research related to my immunology and oncology expertise. I have also enjoyed a collaboration with NHS BT (Barrack Road, Newcastle), where I have been stationed and worked at length to characterise HLA antibodies from transplant patients, purify these and use them in vitro in endothelial cells for cell signalling and flow cytometry studies.

Above all, the POSAT network has enabled me to pursue a PhD, whilst acquiring industrial skills in early phase product development. My project, in partnership with QIAGEN Manchester, has focused on the development of an in-vitro diagnostic test for castration-resistant prostate cancer, which has been rolled out to support a FDA fast-tracked approved phase III trial (ARMOR SV3), comparing the efficacy of Galeterone to Enzalutamide and Abiteraterone in castration resistant prostate cancer.

Furthermore, Cellix has allowed us to assess the role of leukocyte adhesion following endothelial cell activation due to HLA antibodies under dynamic flow conditions (VenaFlux 8.0) mimicking the kidney microvasculature.

As special interest, I have also worked with international development and primary health care in the Amazon Basin in Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. Uganda and South Sudan), specifically on primary health care projects and water and sanitation. Upon completion of the Marie Curie Fellowship, I look forward to applying product development skills to the field of health care consultancy and in support of industrial ventures addressing immunology and oncology as key therapeutic areas.

Project 2: Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury following Transplantation: implications for the modulation of CXCL8 and CXCL1 chemokine function - Ms Beatriz Martinez Burgo

Project 3: Identification of biomarkers in renal fibrosis - Ms Nina Jordan

Project 4: The role of Heparan Sulfate 3-O-sulfation in chronic renal fibrosis - Ms Laura Ferreras

 

 

 

 infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).