‘Regenerative medicine’ explores ways to repair or replace damaged cells, tissues and organs with cell, stem-cell or gene therapy. It can lead to valuable breakthroughs in the treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart problems and kidney diseases or muscle diseases. This may sound like something from the future but at Leiden University we have been conducting groundbreaking research for years and are seeing concrete results.

Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) work closely with industry partners to advance regenerative medicine and innovative drug development. Their research facilities specialise in cultivating and expanding stem cell lines, utilising 3D cell printing to generate new tissue and studying cells to understand their unique properties.

We work with companies at Leiden Bio Science Park on innovative treatments that use living cells to treat diseases and repair tissues. We are working on new insulin-producing cells for patients with severe type 1 diabetes, and the LUMC is the only centre in the Netherlands that can now transplant such donor cells in patients. This would make patients less dependent on long-term medical treatment and offer a solution to the lack of organ donors. We share our expertise through our teaching – for instance, by training students in cell-based therapeutic drug development and quality control practices.