Agnete Kirkeby is an expert in the generation of subtype-specific human neuronal cells from stem cells. As a major contribution to the field, Dr. Kirkeby has during the past 15 years been responsible for the preclinical development of the first European pluripotent stem cell-derived dopamine cell therapy for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. Together with collaborators from Lund University, University of Cambridge and Novo Nordisk, Kirkeby has led the GMP manufacturing, preclinical testing and regulatory filing of the product to enable entry into clinical trial. The STEM-PD product is now being tested in a first-in-human Phase I/IIa clinical trial in Sweden and UK, with the first patient transplanted in February 2023 https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/first-patient-receives-milestone-stem-cell-based-transplant-parkinsons-disease. The group is expanding on this work by performing preclinical testing of a novel cholinergic cell product developed for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease with dementia and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. The group also performs in vitro disease modelling of Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, schizophrenia and appetite regulation using subtype-specific neurons and glial cells from hPSCs.
