Abstract:
Cryobiology is one of the most ubiquitous sciences in the biological field – its applications extend from freezing cell lines over holidays, to assisted reproductive technologies (ART), to cancer treatments, to regenerative medicine, to name a few. Almost all cell therapies and bioartificial tissues – which are promising to revolutionise healthcare – will need cryopreservation for widespread use.
In this seminar, I’ll start with the basics of cryobiology: why cooling must happen at controlled rates, what kinds as cryoprotective agents (CPAs) are used to facilitate freezing, and the different strategies that apply depending on what’s being preserved etc. I’ll cover what happens at the cellular level as we cool and what we ask cells to survive. Practical aspects of cryopreservation will be explored – how to design an optimal cryopreservation strategy for my cells/tissue, what common misconceptions and mistakes to avoid, and what simple – but often overlooked – methods can improve post-thaw survival.
Finally, I’ll speak to how cryobiology plays an essential role in commercialization. There are critical aspects that, when considered early, can make product development and later commercialization more straightforward. A common bottleneck in cell therapies and regenerative medicine is trying to backwards develop a cryopreservation strategy for a near-final biological medicine. Cryopreservation of these medicines is essential to reduce costs to the NHS, for flexibility in patient care, for quality control, and to harness economies of scale.

Biography:
Peter Kilbride is a cryobiologist with experience in both academic and industrial settings. He earned his Ph.D. in cryobiology from UCL in 2015, and has spent the past nine years working in industry with roles in start-up companies, GE Healthcare, and most recently, Cytiva. He joined my group just last week on a paediatric ovarian cryopreservation grant, but we’ve been working together since we met at a conference about a year and a half ago.
He is a Governor of the Society for Cryobiology, and a committee member or the Society for Low Temperature Biology, and has contributed to industrial guidelines and best practices in cryopreservation. In his talk today, we’ll introduce himself to the department, talk about cryobiology, as well as some of the differences and considerations between academia and industry.