CARAT Fellowship Programme 2019: Seven exceptional scientists benefit from unique know-how

To enable more and more experts to use innovative cell manufacturing technology: this is the goal of the CARAT Training Fellowship Programme. In December 2019, seven talented scientists participated in the TCT training course at the MACS Academy in Bergisch Gladbach.

Seven scientists from France, Germany and Spain were invited to attend this year’s CARAT training course from December 9 -13 on GMP-compliant CAR T cell manufacturing. It’s the third time that the CARAT consortium offers its training fellowship programme to selected researchers from European universities, companies, and cell manufacturers. “There is a growing demand for this programme”, said Manal Hadenfeld who is in charge of organizing the CARAT Training Fellowship. “This year, 47 international experts applied for the course. Above all, the CARAT consortium supports those scientists with a profound background in cellular and gene therapy who intend to launch clinical applications in the near future.”

The five-day course has a strong practical focus and offers an application-specific introduction to the intricate procedure of T cell transduction (TCT) on the CliniMACS Prodigy®. All TCT process phases, such as selection, activation, transduction, and expansion are demonstrated with special regard to user interaction and process versatility. In addition to the lab tasks, the participants expect high-level presentations on multiple aspects around CAR-T cell development and application.

“The CARAT training event is a unique mix of learning, sharing, and networking while providing both conceptual and applied knowledge”, the participants agreed. “The training provided answers to all our questions about cell manufacturing.” Of particular note were the excellent and patient trainers who have adapted the training programme to the special needs of the group at any time. “There is an increasing demand for T cell manufacturing covering all steps from sample preparation and cell isolation to flow cytometry and cell culture. Our newly acquired knowledge will help us to provide increasingly personalized patient care”, said Dr. Guillaume Churlaud of the Centre MEARY in Paris and participant of the CARAT training.

“The fellowship program, with the support of the CARAT consortium and Miltenyi Biotec, not only enables more and more scientists to work with innovative cell manufacturing technologies and so expand the use of personalized cancer treatments”, added Manal Hadenfeld, “but also makes valuable contacts with international experts and raises the profile of their worldwide leading position in promoting CAR T cell therapies.

From left: Sybille Krauß (Miltenyi Biotec) in a training session with Margarita González-Vallinas (IBGM-Citospin, Univ. Valladolid, Spain) and María Vela (IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain).
From left: Margarita González-Vallinas (IBGM-Citospin, Univ. Valladolid, Spain), María Vela (IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain) and Mohamed Abu-E-Enein (Charité, Berlin, Germany), using our CliniMACS Prodigy®.
A total of seven scientists received a five-day CARAT Training at our MACS Academy in Bergisch Gladbach.
Julien Caumartin (Invectys, Paris, France) is one of the lucky candidates receiving the annual CARAT Training Fellowship.