The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW)

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW) is an international collaboration which will pave the way for future stem cell-based treatments. Based in Leiden, Melbourne and Copenhagen, reNEW has been made possible through a record stem cell medicine grant of up to €300 million over 10 years from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The Leiden Node is based at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). LUMC is a European leader in medical innovation and a long-time frontrunner in developing innovations in healthcare. LUMC has a strong focus on stem cell biology, including the development of applications using both tissue and pluripotent stem cells.

A growing global population combined with a longer life expectancy is resulting in increasing chronic disease, making us live longer, but not necessarily better. At the same time, there are still serious and untreatable genetic conditions that, while individually rare, collectively affect many people. These realities drive the need for new medical solutions. This is where stem cell medicine represents a huge opportunity and where reNEW comes into the picture.

Research

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reNEW will use stem cells to model human diseases, regenerate tissue and create gene-edited cells that can improve our ability to diagnose, treat and even prevent human disease. Such transformative stem cell medicines offer patients hope for a variety of incurable diseases such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes, heart failure, Parkinson’s, and muscular dystrophy. The research covers 13 organs and tissues.

 

reNEW aims to translate fundamental research into new stem cell-derived products to improve both the health and lives of people throughout the world. reNEW not only  promotes stem cell-based research, but also strengthens the pathways from scientific discovery to targeted results and commercialization. reNEW aims at making a significant contribution to stem cell medicine in the form of new medical technologies or treatments options.

To achieve this goal, reNEW’s research is organized into five research themes:

Prof. Ton Rabelink (Node Director)

Prof. Niels Geijsen (Deputy Node Director)

Prof. Eelco de Koning (reBUILD Theme Lead)

Prof. Christine Mummery

Prof. Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes

Prof. Frank Staal

Dr. Heiko Locher

Dr. Karine Raymond

Prof. Martine de Vries

Dr. Wilbert van den Hout

Facilities

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To ensure that all research within reNEW remains state of the art, it is essential to enable all reNEW researchers access to key research facilities and infrastructure. LUMC provides access to the following research facilities:

Partners

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The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW) is supported by a Novo Nordisk Foundation grant number NNF21CC0073729.