Yes, it has been almost 6 months since our last newsletter. So here is our second edition where we will quickly show you what happened in the last 6 months and what we are up to.
We continue to grow, we are 11 people working on the project and actively looking for new people to join our team. If you would be interested in joining our team, check our recently created job openings page to see the open positions at the moment. We continue to collaborate with our partners to apply for new funding opportunities to start new projects and continue to grow our dissemination and communication efforts (check our new Bluesky profile).
Our team continues to publish their work in peer review papers and reviews, and we started a new project, do not worry we will tell you more about this, but first…
What’s coming?
CTGCT Days 2025. Registration Open!
We are organizing 3 days full of events which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from the 15th to the 17th of September. These events offer the opportunity for the exchange of cutting-edge scientific findings and translation of novel cell and gene therapies (CGT) into the clinic.
Check the webpage and feel free register to attend (online or in person). You can submit an abstract for an oral or poster contribution. We are bringing together world-renowned leaders in the field of cell and gene therapies and providing opportunities for networking and establishing of new collaborations between experts in the EU with a focus on creating links with similar institutions in the southeastern region of Europe.
News from the last 6 months
CTGCT Services
As part of our deliverables, we prepared a list of products and services that the CTGCT is able to offer to its partners and society. This list has been published on our website and if you are interested or require a bespoke solution, do not hesitate to contact us. Our team would be happy to discuss your requirements and propose the best solution based on the expertise of our scientists.
Gene H Kickoff
On the 21st of March we attended the Kickoff of Gene H a new project we are part of. We are part of the consortium that includes academia, industry, patient associations and government agencies, aiming to advance gene therapy for genetic diseases. With €5 million in funding, the project fosters collaboration between academia, industry, government, and society. CTGCT focuses on enhancing academia-industry interactions and supporting regulatory advocacy. The consortium includes 13 partners from Portugal and Slovenia, working to strengthen international collaboration and innovation.
18 Months Review
On May 15, 2024, CTGCT held a review meeting for its EU-funded project at the Kemijski Inštitut in Ljubljana. The meeting provided an overview of the project’s progress to EU officials and external reviewers. Presentations covered advancements, challenges, and impacts in governance, research, communication, and sustainability. Feedback is awaited to refine the project and maximize its impact. Check the full article.
Feel free to check all our updates through the **articles** in our webpage.
Open Research Results
When we sent our newsletter last month, we thought that was it for 2024 publications but on the last day we got one more paper published about Cytokine-armed pyroptosis in Nature Communications. But that hasn’t been all, so feel free to check the latest papers to which we have contributed, and in our webpage you can check our breakdown articles about them.
- Clustering of NLRP3 induced by membrane or protein scaffolds promotes inflammasome assembly. Boršić, E., Ramuta, T. Ž., Orehek, S., Kreft, M. E., Geyer, M., Jerala, R., & Hafner-Bratkovič, I. (2025). Nature Communications, 16(1), 4887. org/10.1038/s41467-025-60277-4
- Synthetic Biology for Designing Allostery and its Potential Biomedical Applications. Plaper, T., Štibler, U. K., & Jerala, R. (2025). Journal of Molecular Biology, 169225. org/10.1016/j.jmb.2025.169225
- Ultrasound-responsive mammalian cell synthetic biology. Ivanovski, F., Jazbec, V., Varda, N., Jerala, R., amp; Benčina, M. (2025). Ultrasound-responsive mammalian cell synthetic biology. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 1–1. org/10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3570813
- Paving the way toward treatment solutions for CTNNB1 syndrome: a patient organization perspective. Miroševič, Š., Khandelwal, S., Amerson, E., Parks, E., Parks, M., Cochran, L., González Hernández, A., Ferraro, M., Lisowski, L., Perez-Iturralde, A., Chung, W., Jacob, M. H., Žakelj, N., Lainšček, D., Forstnerič, V., Sušjan, P., Maruna, M., Jerala, R., amp; Osredkar, D. (2025). org/10.1177/26330040251318355
- Ligand-induced assembly of antibody variable fragments for the chemical regulation of biological processes. Rihtar, E., Fink, T., Lebar, T., Lainšček, D., Kolenc, Ž., Polajnar, L. K., amp; Jerala, R. (2025). Ligand-induced assembly of antibody variable fragments for the chemical regulation of biological processes. Cell Chemical Biology. org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2025.01.007
- Cytokine-armed pyroptosis induces antitumor immunity against diverse types of tumors. Orehek, S., Ramuta, T. Ž., Lainšček, D., Malenšek, Š., Šala, M., Benčina, M., Jerala, R., amp; Hafner-Bratkovič, I. (2024). Cytokine-armed pyroptosis induces antitumor immunity against diverse types of tumors. Nature Communications , 15(1). org/10.1038/s41467-024-55083-3
- CTGCT, Centre of Excellence for the Technologies of Gene and Cell Therapy: Collaborative Translation of Scientific Discoveries into Advanced Treatments for Neurological Rare Genetic Diseases and Cancer. Presen, D. M., Lainšček, D., Kinghorn, J., Sebestyen, Z., Kuball, J., Amini, L., Reinke, P., Fuchs, A., Jerala, R., amp; Benčina, M. (2024). Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2024.11.051
Job Openings
As the project progresses, so will the team that is part of the CTGCT. During 2025 new team members joined us and we plan to hire more people with a background in chemistry and/or biology and experience with cell therapies and virus preparation. If you or any of your friends would be interested in helping the CTGCT in its mission to translate research into therapies for cancers and rare diseases, keep an eye on our website or feel free to send your curriculum to ctgct@ki.si.
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Co-funded by the European Union, this project has received funding from Horizon Europe (grant agreement No. 101059842) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee (grant number 10069462). Views and opinions expressed are of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive