Twelve Fellows have joined the ACTIP network

ACTIP (the Animal Cell Technology Industrial Platform) is the informal European forum of companies employing animal cell technology (www.actip.org). Twice a year the representatives of the member companies meet to discuss research, development, technology and regulatory issues of mutual interest.
Besides the representatives of the member companies, invited speakers and observer companies (SMEs working on the themes covered by the meeting) make up the participants of these meetings. The meetings are characterized by a friendly
atmosphere and very lively discussions and take place in the home towns (and sometimes on the premises) of ACTIP members.
ACTIP has opened up these informal industrial meetings to young scientists
working on a project in biomanufacturing or related activity of industrial interest,
i.e. development of new expression systems, new mammalian cell lines, or test
development. The applicant can have done his/her project in industry, academia or a government agency.

Once a year ACTIP publishes a Call for Application for an ACTIP Fellowship. These Calls are published in May-April here on our website. The next Call will be for the 2012 Fellowship. In September, ACTIP members review the applications and select 4 winners of the ACTIP Fellowship Award. A Fellowship consists of all costs paid to attend a two-day meeting of ACTIP. So far, all Fellows have hugely enjoyed the opportunity to present their work to and discuss with industrial scientists representing the majority of European companies working in the field of animal cell technology.

Rutger van Wielink: "A pleasant and inspiring chance to meet and dine with cell culture scientists from various European biotech companies."

Sonja Wilke: “I found myself in an inspiring atmosphere meeting scientists and their research behind biotech companies.”

Stéphanie Tissot: “The ACTIP was a great opportunity to present and discuss actively my research with people from various biotech companies.”

Since its inception in 2009, twelve Fellows have been chosen. The last two of the Fellows 2011 were given their Awards in Lyon, France on November 18, 2011; two Fellows of 2011 will be awarded in Rotterdam, May 25, 2012. The others received their honors at meetings in 2009 and 2010. Here are the twelve Fellows and their projects:

Winners fellowship 2011:

The engineering design paradigm as a tool to enhance industrial recombinant monoclonal antibody production 
Dr. Peter O'Callaghan
Lonza Biologics, United Kingdom
Email: peter.ocallaghan@lonza.com                                                          

mHost-XS  -  A new versatile donor- & expression vector for protein production in eukaryotic systems
Mr. Steffen Meyer
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany
Email: Steffen.Meyer@helmholtz-hzi.de

To be honoured at the ACTIP meeting in May 2012 will be:

Application of metabolomics technologies for the evaluation of data driven bioprocess control in CHO cell cultures
Jan Bechmann
Boehringer Ingelheim
Germany
jan.bechmann@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Applying enhanced Quality by Design approach for the design space of a mammalian cell culture process
Thomas Solacroup, Merck Serono
Switzerland
thomas.solacroup@merckgroup.com

Winners fellowship 2010:

Multi-frequency permittivity measurements for real time monitoring supervision and control of cell culture processes
Dr. Sven Ansorge
National Research Council Canada, Biotechnology Research Institute
Canada
Email: sven.ansorge@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca

Orbitally shaken bioreactors for mammalian cell culture
Mrs Stephanie Tissot
EPFL
Switzerland
stephanie.tissot@epfl.ch

Improving the production of deINS1 influenza virus in animal cell culture
Ir. Rutger van Wielink
Wageningen University, Central Veterinary Institute
The Netherlands
Email: rutger.vanwielink@wur.nl

Producing mammalian proteins for structures: site-directed recombination in CHO Lec3.2.8.1 cells
Mrs Sonja Wilke
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Germany
sonja.wilke@helmholtz-hzi.de

Winners fellowship 2009:

High performance minicircle for industrial production of recombinant therapeutic agents
Mr. Markus Heine
Helmholtz Center for Infection Research
Germany
Email: Markus.Heine@helmholtz-hzi.de

Engineering mammalian cells for enhanced recombinant protein production
Dr. Rosalyn Masterton
Dept. of Biosciences, University of Kent
United Kingdom
Email: r.j.masterton@kent.ac.uk

Biological relevant cell systems: the conditional immortalization system
Dr. Tobias May
Helmholtz Center for Infection Research
Germany
Email: tobias.may@helmholtz-hzi.de

Systems Biotechnology Approaches in Industrial Mammalian Cell Culture
Dr. Jochen Schaub
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG
A BP Process Science
Germany