Novel Concepts in iPSC Disease Modeling

Dr. Alexander Birbrair received his bachelor’s biomedical degree from Santa Cruz State University in Brazil. He completed his PhD in Neuroscience, in the field of stem cell biology, at the Wake Forest School of Medicine under the mentorship of Osvaldo Delbono. Then, he joined as a postdoc in stem cell biology at Paul Frenette’s laboratory at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York. In 2016, he was appointed faculty at Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, where he started his own lab. His laboratory is interested in understanding how the cellular components of different tissues function and control disease progression. His group explores the roles of specific cell populations in the tissue microenvironment by using state-of-the-art techniques. His research is funded by the Serrapilheira Institute, CNPq, CAPES, and FAPEMIG. In 2018, Alexander was elected affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), and, in 2019, he was elected member of the Global Young Academy (GYA), and in 2021, he was elected affiliate member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He is the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of Current Tissue Microenvironment Reports, and Associate Editor of Molecular Biotechnology. Alexander also serves in the editorial board of several other international journals: Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells and Development, and Histology and Histopathology.

• 1. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Novel Concepts for Respiratory Disease Modelling2. iPSC For Modeling of Metabolic and Neurodegenerative Disorders3. iPSCs for Modeling Open-Angle Glaucoma4. Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Modeling Amyloid Disease5. iPSCs for Modeling Choroideremia6. Applications of human hiPSC and hESC for modeling substance use disorders: Addiction and neurodevelopmental toxicity7. iPSCs for Modeling Cardiac Sodium Channelopathies8. iPSCs for Modeling Danon Disease9. Human induced pluripotent stem cells for Modeling of Niemann-Pick Disease type C110. iPSC-based Modeling in Psychiatric Disorders: Opportunities and Challenges11. Research Applications of iPSCs for Modeling of Spinal Cord Injury12. iPSCs for Modeling Smith-Magenis Syndrome