The bioprocessing of stem cells: how to reach the clinic. Interviewed by Emily Culme-Seymour.

Peter Zandstra speaks to Emily Culme-Seymour, Assistant Commissioning Editor Peter Zandstra graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree from McGill University (QC, Canada) in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and obtained his PhD degree from the University of British Columbia (BC, USA) in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, under the supervision of Jamie Piret and Connie Eaves. He continued his research training as a Post Doctoral Fellow in the field of Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA, USA; with Doug Lauffenburger) before being appointed to the University of Toronto (ON, USA) in 1999. He holds an academic appointment as a Professor at the University of Toronto's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and he is cross-appointed with the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, and the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research. Zandstra is a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering and is a recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including the Premiers Research Excellence Award (2002), the Edgar William Richard Steacie Memorial Fellowship (2006), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2007) and the McLean Award (2009). Zandstra is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Zandstra currently serves as associate editor for several journals. In addition to his academic appointment, he serves as the Chief Scientific Officer for the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine in Toronto (ON, Canada).