The Pereira Lab reports for the first time the in vivo reprogramming of cancer cells into type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s). The study was published in Science and showcases a new cancer immunotherapy modality.

The researchers Beatriz Vaz and Mariana Gonçalves from Pereira Lab were awarded with PhD studentships from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Both PhD projects aim to surpass the limitations of current cancer immunotherapies, addressing different strategies to reprogram cancer cells into antigen-presenting type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s), which are pivotal for anti-tumor immunity.

The Pereira Lab secures its third ERC grant with the project DART – “Driving Tumor Antigen Presentation by RNA-mediated Transdifferentiation.” The awarded project aims to develop an effective approach to perform RNA-based reprogramming of tumor cells into dendritic cells. DART is built on clinical and industry collaborations: Cristiana Pires and Fábio Rosa from Asgard Therapeutics, Anders Wittrup from Lund University, and Inge Marie Svane from Herlev Hospital in Denmark.

Pereira Lab researcher Camila Vazquez Echegaray was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship by Cancerfonden, the Swedish Cancer Society.

The RESYNC project, a European Innovation Council-funded consortium, launched its Kick-off meeting on March 1st in Lund, Sweden.

The Pereira Lab was awarded 33 million SEK by the European Innovation Council, under the EIC Pathfinder call.

Filipe Pereira was awarded this year’s Fernström Prize for his work on reprogramming hematopoietic cells and immunotherapy development.

Pereira Lab researcher Ilia Kurochkin was awarded an Immuno-Informatics Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Cancer Research Institute (CRI).

The Pereira Lab was today announced as the receiver of a Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

The Pereira Lab has been awarded with a grant of 6.000.000 DKK from the NovoNordisk foundation.

Pereira Lab researcher Diogo Cabral was awarded a Maria de Sousa PhD Studentship by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Pereira Lab PhD student Rita Alves and postdoctoral fellows Ilia Kurochkin and Camila Vasquez were each awarded a grant from the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund.

Pereira Lab group leader Filipe Pereira has been appointed Professor of Molecular Medicine, Regeneration, Transplantation and Repair in the Hematopoietic System at Lund University.

Pereira Lab researcher Camila Vazquez Echegaray was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship.

The Pereira Lab took part in a meeting held by Asgard Therapeutics AB, together with consortium members InSphero and Antineo, that sets the official kick-off to the earlier announced Eurostars project.

PU.1, IRF8, and BATF3 cooperation and role in inflammatory signaling during programming of human cDC1-like cells was uncovered at the Pereira Lab.

Asgard Therapeutics AB, a private biotech company spin off from the Pereira Lab, announces the completion of a EUR 6 million seed financing round. The financing was co-led by Novo Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Industrifonden.

On June 10th 2021, Fábio Rosa defended his thesis “Generating Dendritic Cells by Direct Cell Reprogramming. Merging cellular reprogramming with immunology towards the development of novel cancer immunotherapies.” with Prof. Thomas Graf from the Center for Genomic Regulation (Spain) as opponent.

Following on the legacy of Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, Filipe Pereira becomes the new Editor-in-Chief of the Cellular Reprogramming Journal.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has published the results for this year’s applications for consolidator grants, in which Filipe Pereira was selected for, in the scientific area of Medicine and health.

Pereira Lab researcher Luís Oliveira was awarded a fully funded 4 year scholarship by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to develop his PhD-leading research.

The Pereira Lab has been awarded a grant from the Mats Paulsson Foundation for Research, Innovation and Societal Development on a project aiming at Harnessing Dendritic Cell Reprogramming for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Filipe Pereira was recently awarded with the KiiLN Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Award by the Keystone for Incubating Innovation in Life Sciences Network at the Icahn School of Medicine Innovation Awards.

Pereira Lab Cancerfonden postdoctoral fellow Olga Zimmermannova was awarded a grant from the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, one of the Royal Academies promoting scientific progress in Sweden.

The project entitled “Understanding dendritic cell diversity with cell reprogramming” aims at a better comprehension of dendritic cell development, with interesting new possibilities in cancer immunotherapy.

Filipe Pereira was today announced as one of the 89 selected researchers by the European Research Council of its latest Consolidator Grant competition. He will be awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of 2 million EUR over a period of five years. The project will merge the cell reprogramming and cancer immunotherapy fields to develop innovative therapeutic strategies.

Human skin cells have been converted successfully into blood stem cells at the Pereira Lab, bringing new therapies for people with blood diseases a step closer. This international project – including scientist from Sweden, USA, Russia, and Portugal – follows our previous research on the reprogramming of mouse skin cells into blood stem cells. In this study we shift our focus from the specification of mouse to human hematopoietic stem cells. We describe the generation of hemogenic precursors from human fibroblasts via an endothelial intermediate and highlight the general importance of transcription factor cooperation during human hematopoietic stem cell specification.

The Pereira Lab formally spun out Sweden-based immuno-oncology company called Asgard Therapeutics, aiming to be the first company in the world to develop a cancer therapy based on direct cell reprogramming. Asgard Therapeutics will develop cancer immunotherapies based on the properties of so-called dendritic cells, immune cells specialized in dissecting dangerous particles so killer white blood cells can recognise them as threats that must be destroyed. The approach, named TrojanDC, builds on findings from laboratory studies indicating that a formulation of three essential proteins, PU.1, IRF8 and BATF3, could be used to repurpose mouse and human skin cells as dendritic cells. Pereira Lab researchers Filipe Pereira, Cristiana Pires and Fábio are co-founders of the venture, together with Lund University Holding.

For the first time, the Pereira Lab has successfully reprogrammed mouse and human skin cells into immune cells called dendritic cells. The process is quick and effective, representing a pioneering contribution for applying direct reprogramming for inducing immunity. Importantly, this finding opens up the possibility of developing novel dendritic cell-based immunotherapies against cancer.

BioInnovation Institute and the Novo Nordisk Foundation have recently opened a call for the PreSeed program in all Nordic countries for start-ups and academic projects in therapeutics, health tech and biotech. Earlier this year, Filipe Pereira from Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine at Lund Stem Cell Center received a PreSeed grant of 3.5 Million DKK for his project in dendritic cell therapy.