Stem cells and the Future of Medicine?

Inaugural Lecture - Professor Lyle Armstrong

This lecture will take place on campus, in Lecture Theatre 002, Business & Law Building, City Campus East (full address at the bottom of the page). Refreshments will be served from 4.30pm outside of the lecture theatre. The lecture will also be available to stream online - please register for the event and a link will be sent to you to access the live stream.

Stem cells and the Future of Medicine? 

In a fascinating lecture Professor Lyle Armstrong will argue that current methods of identifying new medical entities, such as small molecules, are not delivering the advances in treatments of disease compared to the enormous investments made in these technologies by the pharmaceutical industry.

He will describe a brief history of stem cells: what they are, whence they came, and how they might contribute to the development of new medicines based on cells or biological molecules rather than the types of chemical structures traditionally pursued as novel drugs.

About the Speaker

Professor Lyle Armstrong is Professor of Cellular Reprogramming at Newcastle University and a Visiting Professor at Northumbria University. The aim of his research is to understand how both adult and embryonic stem cells differentiate into given cell types and what mechanism maintains the differentiated states (cellular memory).

His work involves building on the knowledge of epigenetics to devise strategies for ‘reprogramming’ human somatic cells towards a stem cell like phenotype. The goal is to use these cell for regenerative therapy without the logistical and ethical problems associated with ‘therapeutic cloning’ in humans.

To register for this free lecture, please fill in the form below.