Centre of Excellence for the Technologies of Gene and Cell Therapy

Scientific discoveries on mechanisms of biomedical processes and invention of technologies to repair disease-related genes or destroy cancer cells represent the foundation of an important pillar of personalized medicine. The new Centre of Excellence for the Technologies of Gene and Cell Therapy (CTGCT) will be the first Centre of Excellence in biomedicine in Slovenia and unique with an approach combining mammalian cell synthetic biology and immunology to develop novel technologies for the development of GCTs and cancer immunotherapy in the EU and beyond. The aim of CTGCT is to become one of the leaders in the interdisciplinary breakthrough science technologies for GCT and a model for international research excellence, industrial collaboration and public engagement.CTGCT will gain a competitive edge based on the vertical integration of the technologies for whose further development the foundations have been laid at the National Institute of Chemistry (SI), and with support of expertise and knowledge of the advanced partners University College London (UK), University Medical Centre Utrecht (NL), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE) and Technical University Dresden (DE). Supported by the involvement of clinicians and patient organizations, CTGCT will enable translation of research achievements into therapeutic applications, primarily neurological and rare genetic diseases and cancer immunotherapy, and establish a capacity to prepare the GMP clinical grade therapeutic reagents, which is currently a bottleneck to effective translation. By bridging gap in translation, CTGCT will facilite high impact of excellent research and innovation on health in Slovenia as well as in the West Balkans, East Europe and beyond. It will strengthen scientific capabilities and long-term collaborations with partners and others leading scientific institutions from abroad, as well as improve accessibility of the GCTs.